Chak Diya!

Movies in the sports genre have been a difficult & relatively unexplored terrain for Bollywood filmmakers, and the few that have treaded this path have had the game more as a backdrop, than a focal point. Even Lagaan & Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, the most successful of our sports-oriented films, did not manage to do away with the hero-heroine romances & song-dance routines. Others like Iqbal, which managed to get critical acclaim, were never considered mainstream cinema because of their limited audience.

When I first saw the promos of “Chak De! India”, I was skeptical whether a different subject like women’s hockey could be turned into watchable cinema. Infact even after it released, I had half a mind if I should see the movie. But 2 days back, I ended up watching “Chak De! India” which was, to simply put, “delightful cinema”!

The story of a rumbustious bunch of girls being transformed into World Hockey champions is refreshing in its treatment and director Shimit Amin deserves kudos for believing in the subject. He could have easily let the film slip into a boring documentary-like on hockey in the name of serious cinema. At the same time, the temptation, to have Bollywood’s leading actor romance a popular actress as his lady love (with a song and dance thrown in after a coaching session), must have been very hard to resist. Yet the director did not let his vision stray and so we have a male coach train sixteen females without him falling for anyone on the way. This is a definitely a deviation from predictable Bollywood.

The movie however does have its set of stereotypes, and the climax is typical Bollywood fare, but that is only to be expected. There are times when movie starts to move in a hackneyed fashion. Despite all its clichés, what works for the movie are its characters – the girls get an even-handed opportunity to share the screen with the mighty Khan. And they deliver – with their histronics, one-liners and emotions. The script carefully etches every character giving each of them their unique flavour – be it through language, mannerism, attitude or their background. Not surprising, it is these unknown names that make you sit up and enjoy this journey that has never a dull moment.

Shahrukh delivers a tailormade role with panache, and he manages to do so without overshadowing the others. The technical departments excel in what they do but again given the performances & witty dialogues, you don’t seem to notice anything beyond. Not even the relative lack of music or Bollywood mush. The film mixes patriotism (without being jingoistic) and entertainment, higlighting on the way issues like gender inequality and indifferent attitude towards sports in India.

All in all, “Chak De! India” is another feather in the “coming of age” Bollywood’s cap & the packed houses are a testimony to this. Must watch!

The Importance Of Being Sanju

I had confused feelings when I first heard the judgement on Sanjay Dutt last week. My initial thoughts were how would Sanjay Dutt, the loveable Munnabhai of Bollywood, cope with six years of jail. But at the same time, the fact that our judicial system had viewed him as a citizen, who went against the law, not considering his Bollywood celebrity status, was reassuring.

The news channels kept beaming his images all day long, in addition to interviews of scores of Bollywood icons refuting the “unfair” verdict. The next day, newspapers were splashed with statements of every possible Bollywood actor condemning his imprisonment.

And that’s when it got on my nerves.

I know Mr. Dutt only from his films, but when the whole of Bollywood says, I can acknowledge that he is a nice guy. But does that take away the fact that (at one point of time) he was involved with the underworld and was in possession of arms? The law took its course, even if delayed, so why is the issue getting undeserved mileage? Sanju, might be a much-adulated public figure, but why is he being depicted as a child of a Higher God, who has been wronged in every way possible? Even a week after the trial, not an hour goes by when the news channels don’t have someone or the other voicing their sympathies to Sanju baba.

I’m not against Sanjay Dutt, nor do I have a problem if he is let off. But this issue is no longer about an individual. In a country where millions languish in jails, there would be many among them who would have undergone a transformation from their criminal past to a humane present or several innocent ones who are imprisoned without even being guilty. Has Bollywood thought about them? Would it be just to give preferrential treatment to an individual due to his star status and absolve him of his past guilts? If today one star gets to distort justice, tomorrow we may have others, who by their influence and media’s endorsement, will get away with more.

India is a free land and everyone of us has a right to opinion. But why are our news channels and newspapers trying to project this through the eyes of celebs by giving them undeserving coverage to lobby for an individual?

Have we run out of pertinent issues that impact the lives of a collective nation that the entire Indian media has the spotlight on a single man?