by Ms. Pushpa Upadhya, (2006-2008)

While narrating a fairly predictable story of a down-and-out all-girls' hockey team's journey into global triumph, the director brings into play a kind of abiding charisma that's born out of a sincere passion for a neglected sport and that even more-neglected spirit of collective aspirations.

The question of the Indian Muslim's identity in the face of an often-suspicious majority surfaces early in the clenched narration, as Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh) is accused of selling-out a crucial game of hockey to Pakistan.

The ragged bunch of girls from all over the country gather under one umbrella to give the cynics a run for their money. You watch them with a distant curiosity which soon merges into a keen interest in their progress report.

The drama emanates in a rush of warm feelings from the interactive tensions between pairs from the team, for instance the vain Marathi player Preeti Sabarwal (Sagarika Ghatge) and the dimunitive mirchi from Harayana Komal Chautala (Chitrashi Rawat)…or for that matter the flavourful frisson between the ostracized Kabir and the hockey federation which collectively sneers at his aspirations for the all-girls' hockey team.

Idealistic and dreamy? You bet! Isn't that what cinema was always meant to be? Chak De India takes us back to the joyous days of watching movies where the heroes began by being unfairly cut down to size and then progressed to being warriors of the dark-light fighting their way out of the negativity that surrounds their dreams.