Chak De ! India
(Hindi: चक दे इन्डिया, Urdu: چک دے انڈیا, English: Buck Up India or Come On India)



Directed : Shimit Amin
Produced : Aditya Chopra & Yash Chopra
Written : Shimit Amin & Jaideep Sahni
Starring :
Shahrukh Khan
Vidya Malvade
Sagarika Ghatge
Shilpa Shukla
Chitrashi Rawat
Anaitha Nair
Shubhi Mehta
Sandia Furtado
Arya Menon
Masochon V. Zimik
Music : Salim Merchant & Sulaiman Merchant
Cinematography : Vishal Sinha
Editing : Shimit Amin
Distributer : Yash Raj Films
Release date(s) : August 10, 2007

Synopsis:

The film starts with a Hockey match. India Captain Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) misses a penalty stroke in the dying minutes of the match which causes the team to lose the game, the final of a tournament against arch rivals Pakistan. The Indian media make Kabir Khan the fall guy for the defeat. Kabir is humiliated & even has to leave his ancestral home, unable to face the shame of being labelled a 'gaddaar' (traitor).

Seven years later, Kabir returns with a proposal to coach the Indian Women's Hockey team for the Hockey World Cup. The Indian Hockey Federation members are skeptical since women's Hockey in India has never acheived anything substantial. Kabir takes on the challenge and goes to the National Hockey Camp where he is introduced to the 16 young girls who play for their respective states. Kabir starts coaching them with a dream that the team will win the Hockey World Cup for India and he will finally be free of the demons of the past haunting him.

The team is riven by conflicts of region, class & ethnicity. Kabir inculcates in them a sense of team spirit & asks them to put the country first. The girls take time but manage to come together through a series of incidents. Some senior members of the team resent him but he finally gets through to them. The team rally and convince the Federation to send them for the World Cup to be held in Australia who also happen to be the defending champions.

In their first match, they are hammered by the Australians but slowly turn their game around and start winning matches. They keep improving during the course of the tournament and miraculously manage to reach the finals where they must face the defending champions once more. In the end it all comes down to a tense Penalty Shoot Out, which the Indians win.

The players and Kabir are ecstatic at their victory and are welcomed back as heroes. More importantly, Kabir returns to his home after seven years where the residents greet him with love and affection.

Cast:

• Shahrukh Khan ... Kabir Khan
• Vidya Malvade ... Vidya Sharma
• Sagarika Ghatge ... Preeti Sabarwal
• Chitrashi Rawat ... Komal Chautala
• Shilpa Shukla ... Bindia Naik
• Tanya Abrol ... Balbir Kaur
• Anaitha Nair ... Aliya Bose
  
• Shubhi Mehta ... Gunjan Lakhani
• Seema Azmi ... Rani Dispotta
• Nisha Nair ... Soimoi Kerketa
• Sandia Furtado ... Nethra Reddy
• Arya Menon ... Gul Iqbal
• Masochon V. Zimik ... Molly Zimik
• Kimi Laldawla ... Mary Ralte
• Kimberly Miranda ... Rachna Prasad
• Nichola Sequeira ... Nichola Sequeira
• Raynia Mascarenhas ... Raynia Fernandes

Production:

Shahrukh Khan is seen sporting a beard in the film. Shahrukh plays a guy who has faced severe humiliation and is looking for an opportunity to redeem his lost glory. The team arrives in Australia to play for the women’s world cup and that is when their struggle begins for dignity and self respect.

Neetu Chandra auditioned and got the part of the leading lady of the film. She was later replaced due to unknown reasons [2].

The film, produced by Yash Chopra, has the duo, Salim and Sulaiman composing the music. The music of the film is said to in sync with the film. Editing will be handled by Amin himself who previously worked as an editor before venturing into direction. Cinematography is handled by Vishal Sinha who previously worked with Amin in Ab Tak Chappan. Sudip Chatterjee is in helm of Cinematography. Sports Action by ReelSports. Jaideep Sahni writes the film [3].

The girls are being put through a rigorous exercise regime and all their activities are being shot to be later telecasted in a reality show format playing a part in the film's promotion later on [4]. To promote the film later on, Aditya Chopra, the producer of the film shot a few behind the scenes segments to be used as teasers during film promotions. Shooting for these scenes took place at Yash Raj Studios during the month of June 2006 [5].

The entire film is shot at several locations in Australia including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane [6]. Yash Raj Films had previously shot Salaam Namaste in Australia. The first schedule of the film has been shot at studios in Mumbai, India. The team of the film later headed to Australia for the second schedule of the film [7]. Yash Raj Films released the film on August 10, 2007 [8]. The first trailer for the film was released on 15 June, 2007 with the release of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Later on, the promo trailer shown with Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was pulled because of a lukewarm response.