Chak De !! India: A lesson I learnt in life

This is not the way I wanted to start an article after a long time. As I sit and eat the humble pie, my words keep haunting me.I gave the movie as much chance as Anjan Srivastava gave to the women hockey team for winning the World cup in the movie. But I try to make amends for calling this movie a “piece of shit” days before it had had its first screening. I didn’t intend to show contempt to the movie or the persons involved in its making, but I took the fact for granted that King Khan would again be reluctant to forget that he is “shshshsh….ahrukh khan”.


To be honest, it was the review of the movie which prompted me to have a sneak peek. But after watching it believe me, there’s no regret, only remorse. Don’t misunderstand my strong emotions, but its not daily that I am proven so wrong. Surprisingly, I don’t feel ashamed of accepting my complete failure as a self proclaimed “film critic”.
I am not anti-SRK but my agreement with Shahrukh begins and ends at the fact that both of us believe that his best work till date is “Kabhi haan Kabhi Naa”. Swadesh was another step ahead, but “Chak De” somehow made him come out of his brand of Shahrukh Khan. Chak de doesn’t bank on the SRK brand for getting accepted; it wanted somebody who could do justice to the role of Kabir Khan. Instead we got a bonus of Shahrukh “Kabir” Khan, and Chak de emerging victorious.


This was not the first time somebody tried to marry off Sports with Bollywood.But this particular alliance was special without inviting any comparisons. Forgotten National game, a disgraced sportsperson, Naari Shakti , Team India and an impeccable blend of jargons combined with the Regional Tadka.Do you still need to know who plays Kabir Khan in this venture?Well, as a sports freak and a movie buff, I don’t care.
This movie has all the ingredients to rake in Moolah and become the flavour of India.As goes the spirit of sports and this movie ,no individual emerges victorious ,instead the whole unit has won it.Shahrukh doesn’t try to win brownie points for himself , rather let Kabir khan take the lead. Aptly shown in the movie with respect to the 2 players vying against each other to score the highest number of goals. Another striking similarity is the way Shahrukh leads the way like a senior performer at the appropriate places, as Kabir Khan preaches in the movie to the senior players in the team.


Hats –off to the Director Shimit Amin who has effectively showcased his ability to address the various issues plaguing sports in India, be it the prejudice in favour of cricket, regional Quota-system, favouritism, heavy-handed approach of governing bodies or the increasing influence of media on decision making and creating a public-opinion.Chak De bares it all without crossing the limits of filmmaking. I am sure his experience of directing “Ab tak Chhappan”, which dealt with a much more sensitive topic, came handy in this venture. This movie has not only come as a breeze for Yash Raj Productions in a disastrous year, but should serve as an eye opener for Indian Hockey Federation and Indian Olympic Committee. This could help them answer why a billion strong nation is medal starved.


Ending on a positive note, I thank Shahrukh for realizing his own potential and in return I take a vow not to judge anybody without giving a chance.

Mercy Killing

As far as my meager understanding of the issue goes………….it is nothing but a direct intrusion into the realms of the sphere of nature’s influence .the very fact that it is still illegal across the globe, barring a few exception, vindicates my stand.


The implementation of such a practice has 2 major hassles-----the moral and legal ones. I am too immature to do a detailed analysis of its legal implications. But I am sure, there are many learned and shrewd people who can easily capitalize on the loopholes of any such law, if legalized need not venture into the innumerable instances wherein the arms of the constitution are twisted in courts. When living witnesses can turn hostile, can we really trust a corpse to prove that its state is a result of his own wish and not negligence or an intended attempt? Does it not give yet another novel way to tamper with the laws guarding the cases of medical negligence or for that matter suicide cases?


Coming to the moral aspect of the issue, I am sure everyone will unanimously agree that life has been bestowed upon us ---to be lived and not to offend the almighty by saying “no “ to it.
Such a step would be a setback to the medical profession, which the society looks upon with respect and dignity


We would be undermining the importance of the practitioners who look at it not as a profession where their stature is decided by the success rate of his operation,.but for them it’s an effort to repay the patient his life for the trust he has reposed on his abilities.If we remove the very purpose of his endeavours i.e .-----“to save a dying life” ,it’d be a contempt to the science of medicine.


People usually talk of positive attitude and optimism when things are shaping up great for them.But,these things matter the most only when a person is in dire straits and death seems to be a easy way out to escape all the troubles.


What good is such a practice which breed a “defeatist “attitude and mindset in the society? Has our pride ,over the great heroics performed by many disabled and handicapped people, vanished or do we no more trust the might of human perseverance?




Nature has been at the receiving end of many invasions over it many of which had positive impacts on the life of humans.Already ,we have snatched the authority of “origin of life” from the nature, thanks to genetic engineering and cloning, I feel humans are still not prepared to decide the “end of life”.