Mera Bharat no, strike that, Mera Bollywood Mahaan

60 years and India is just beginning to produce quality movies...

HI,

Just got back from watching Chak De India (don’t look so surprised, since our weekend is Fri-Sat the movies release here on Thursday evening).

I must admit at the start that I am a SRK fan (and if you can’t get the SRK abbreviation then its best you stop reading this blog now)

I try to never miss a SRK movie but at the same time I have no illusions about him being the best actor in the industry.

Aamir is way better and so is Akshaye and lately even Saif.
But where pure unadulterated star power is concerned there is no on to match SRK.

When my generation grew up Amitabh Bachchan’s superstardom was on the wane and by the time we were of the age to really appreciate movies he had been reduced to wearing jackets with steel sleeves, stopping speeding bullets or shamelessly dancing with girls, who not only were young enough to be his daughters but looked it too.

And the only other true blue superstar that Bollywood has produced, Rajesh Khanna had become an old, fat, bloated joke who was hemorrhaging all his past glory and fans with 1 overacted movie after another.

And there weren’t any other superstars besides these two.

That is till SRK.

And before you protest, let me take the words out of your mouth and say so myself.

He hams worse than a hamster and stutters worse than a woodpecker on steroids.

No one is contesting that.
That is why his superstardom is even more amazing.
He did not become a superstar because of that but infact, inspite of it.

You can criticize him all you like but when he comes on screen he holds your attention like no one else can.

As the starlet Neha Dhupia (lets give the poor girl some credit because she isn't ever going to get it from her movies) said so immortally;

“In Bollywood only 2 things sell. Sex & Shahrukh Khan”

And now after an overdose of the Hashmis and Mallikas and Rakhis I guess its just SRK left.

In movie-land the true test of a star is how he can ‘open’ a movie.
That is, how many chairs he can fill before any reviews or word of mouth can spread.
(Thats why Cruise is still the biggest star even after the loony behaviour. )

And no one fills as many chairs as does SRK.

Not Amitabh, Not Aamir, Not Hrithik.

The biggest backhanded compliment that SRK can revel in, is the fact that even when his movies do above 50 crore business it is termed average (as happened with DON).

Dhoni gets fantastic press when he scores 75 but Sachin’s 80 is somehow disregarded.

SRK faces the same problem. He is not called King Khan without reason and like all kings, uneasy lies the head…..

Anyway this blog is not about his superstardom. Its just to emphasize his value because no other star would have been able to give this very worthy movie the audience it deserves. Without SRK it probably would have been very difficult to make, much less market.

So I am not going to waste time preaching that the grass is green.
It’s a universal fact. Period!

What I am amazed about is how well Chak De India has turned out.

The director is a new guy, just 1 film old and born in Uganda.
It has no heroines. No songs in Switzerland. 16 girls who, at best, can be called 'non-ugly'. And its about Hockey.

Even though it is the official national game of India (don’t look so shocked guys, everything does not revolve around cricket) hockey is, to be frank, very boring.

Now if a film like this can hold you rapt in its grip for 2 ½ hours then that in itself is an achievement.

I watched this movie in a cinema in Abu Dhabi with a mainly Asian audience (not all Indians) and yet there they were clapping & whistling & cheering.

You will never once be in any doubt where the movie is heading (sports movies can only have 1 ending and that is victory) yet you feel involved and you cheer like you believe.
Believe in the girls, in the game, in the country.

All this without a single soul screaming Mera Bharat Mahaan.

Quite an achievement this.

Bollywood has but a handful of movies in this genre notably Lagaan & Iqbal (both about cricket). Now Chak De India can proudly claim its place right on top among them.

Go watch this movie. You will not be disappointed. There aren’t many hindi movies you can say this about so go on……

Chak De!.