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In a country that eats, drinks and sleeps cricket, a movie on
hockey certainly bucks the trend. But when Shah Rukh Khan waves the
magic stick saying "Chak De! India", the audience stands up and
applauds. Sans glamour, romance and even a leading lady, King Khan
plays the Indian women's hockey team coach who boosts the spirit
of the girls, trains them and leads them to success - all the while
rousing passions for the much maligned national game.
Ajit Pal Singh, former captain of the Indian hockey team and an
Olympian, believes movies like "Chak De! India" have the potential
to give a new lease of life to hockey in India.
"I am sure that more movies like 'Chak De' can attract more
youngsters to hockey. When I was young, cricket and hockey had an
equal following but today cricket has clearly surpassed hockey,"
Singh told IANS.
Singh, however, believes the interest kindled in the game can be
maintained only with the help of institutional support. "The place
where players are made and passions are lit is school. In fact,
there are many schools that have good hockey teams but they never
stick together to play on at a later stage.
"The government should step in and encourage schools to maintain
their hockey teams. Also the conception that hockey is not as
glamorous, doesn't attract sponsors and doesn't offer as much
money as cricket, should be removed. Only then will more youngsters
take this game more seriously," Singh said.
"It is the number one sport. Unfortunately it has lost its
popularity in India. But hopefully such a medium can bring back the
glory of the game." Adam Wallish, a member of the Australian Hockey
Board, said the film had the potential to revive interest in the
game.
"The film will give a much-needed boost to Indian hockey, given the
fact that it is going through one of its darkest phases," Wallish
said. Despite being the national game, the Indian government had
demoted hockey from the 'priority' to the 'general' category of
sports because of the continuous poor showing of the national team
in all major tournaments in recent years.
However, the successes at the 16th Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament
in Malaysia in May and at last month's Champions Challenge Cup in
the Netherlands, where India won the bronze, were a ray of hope for
hockey lovers.
After watching the movie, most people are sure that it will
definitely attract more young people to the game.
Ananya Mukherjee who had gone to watch the film with her husband
can't help praising it to the skies.
"It was a wonderful movie and I can probably watch it 10 times
more! This is, frankly, one of Shah Rukh's best performances and
via him, I am sure hockey will regain its lost glory and encourage
youngsters to take it up," she said.
Aneeta Mehta, a public relations executive, said: "Shah Rukh is
good, there's no doubt about it. But the rest of the team - the
girls - were superb too. Hailing from different states, they
portrayed the typical challenges a team faces in building the team
spirit."
Close on the heels of "Chak de! India" is coming up another sports
movie, "Goal". A John Abraham and Arshad Warsi starrer, this movie
plays around the central theme of football.
Some other Indian movies based on sports that have done very well
are "Lagaan", "Iqbal" and "Awwal Number", "Hip Hip Hurray" and
"Saheb".
Indo-Asian News Service
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