Nagoya, For Indonesia’s young hockey players, Chak De! India is more than just a Bollywood blockbuster. It is a film that has inspired them and as they prepare to face India at the Asian Games here, it is also giving them the belief that being an underdog is not necessarily a disadvantage.
Indonesian mid-fielder Ferdian Fathur Rahman swears by the 2007 Shah Rukh Khan-starrer, which tells the tale of an underdog women’s hockey team becoming world champion beating all odds. Released in 2007, Chak De! tells the story of Kabir Khan, a disgraced former India captain who seeks redemption by coaching a fractured Indian women’s hockey team and turning a group of individuals from different states into a united side capable of challenging for the World Cup. He has watched the hockey drama several times and still gets goosebumps recalling some of its most stirring moments, including a locker room monologue by Khan’s character which inspires the players to come out of a difficult match situation. Firdaus Muhammad, another member of the squad, is equally familiar with the film. In fact, most members of the Indonesian team have watched Chak De! India at least once, and many of them can name several of the current Indian players. He vividly recalls Kabir Khan’s introductory roll call, when the coach asks each player where she comes from before delivering one of the movie’s most memorable messages of unity in diversity. He is particularly eager to see India’s captain Harmanpreet Singh up close and, more specifically, the drag flick that has made him one of the most feared penalty-corner specialists in world hockey.
“I like his drag flick,” he said with a smile.
