…it’s an immensely satisfying movie experience, I’m going to go with four out of five and two thumbs up for director Shimit Amin’s Chak De India. It’s got a predictable premise and you know exactly which way the story’s going to go, but sometimes, when the characters win over your heart and you’re rooting for them to win, that’s all that really matters.

Sure, you know what’s going to happen, but it’s a good ride — and especially satisfying to see Swiss flower-fields replaced by Australian stadiums. Not to mention the return of the King.

Of the girls, the little stick of dynamite Chitrashi Rawat, the independent-minded Sagarika Ghatge, the team’s zip-unzip vamp Shilpa Shukla and the anger-spewing Tania Abrol are marvellous discoveries.

Yup, so go for it!

Great performances by a bunch of unknowns, a gritty pace and a marvellous restraint make Chakde India an unbridled ode to patriotism without any hysterical chest-beating. And yes, for all you SRK fans and bashers, this time the verdict gotta be unanimous: Chakde Shah Rukh! Can you better this?

CHAK DE INDIA is a team effort and no one person can take credit, but for commercial purposes alone, it’s Shah Rukh Khan who will pull in the audience.

As for the women, I suggest they go in groups and bring the house down. This is one film that celebrates women power!!!

I cannot recall a single dull moment in the film. From the word go, the movie grips you like a vice and keeps you riveted until the end credits roll. During this ‘Chak De’ ride, you go through myriad emotions. You empathize with the pain of the protagonist, cherish the clashes and camaraderie of the girls, and you are filled with an uplifting, charged-up feeling as you see the underdogs rise to the occasion.

One, a brilliant comedy and comment on the cultural divide and diversity of India. Two, a strong perspective on team and attitude building. Three, a sharp look at the manner in which all largely ‘unsponsored’ sports, besides cricket, is run in this country, where an international sports tournament is more a sarkari tour for its administrators. Four, a soft take on the under-estimated female brawn. Five, a timely point on unfair trials by the media. That’s five goals that I can count on my fingers straight. Not a bad game at all!

Like Iqbal, Chak De India attempts to keep it real. The story, though it succumbs to cliché now and then, is told convincingly. In this cricket-obsessed nation (Chak De India tackles the issue of cricket versus hockey too, through an interesting sub-plot), plenty of players are placed on, and toppled off, pedestals overnight; Kabir’s rabid persecution thus strikes a chord.

Shah Rukh Khan has moved away from his typical image yet again after Swades. He breathes life into the character and fits the role to a t. It’s a treat to watch the Baadshah do something so drastically different, in the process successfully convincing the viewers.