‘Chak de!’ is essentially a love story starring Shah Rukh Khan, only the beloved is India. India has immense passion and potential for sports, which was channelled through cinema for the first time by this Shimit Amin film. It was the first film to draw attention towards the state and relevance of other sports in the country, besides cricket. Instead of focusing on just one underdog story, Chak de! introduced the audience with an array of different characters, and presented the sport itself as the underdog. The film doesn’t depend on technique but on the underlying emotion to convey its message and bind the audience to it. Its title song went on to become the nation’s sports anthem and the effectiveness of the film was the driving force behind it.
Director – Shimit Amin
