Why CHAK DE is a winner

Enough has been said about this movie . I do not wish to start all over again. Here are some of minute details and a few reasons why I rate it high -

1) The choice of the lead actor- SRK . He suits the role to a T. He was a hockey player during his college days and is a very good athlete. Never in the movie do you get a feel that he is "acting" as a coach. People have said that he has sacrificed his image and his role is kind of subdued. The film started and ended with him , so he is the real hero.

2) SRK is shown going home on a scooter . His house is in a near slum like area. Though I would contest an Indian Hockey captain being depicted as a lower middle class guy , it certainly tells us about the sorry state of the players.

As an aside , to give you a flavour of the facilities and treatment meted out to the players , the Chennai Open -2007 was won by India recently. A couple of weeks ago we had been to Savera , at- the- max -a -4 star hotel. The Indian team, along with the Japanese guys, whom they had beaten in the semis just then, was having dinner there. Though I was elated to have food alongside them , one certainly would not expect the National Team to have food sitting beside him. There was no autograph seeker either. Fittingly , the Ind-Eng final was being aired and people preferred that ! The entry at(to?) the Nungambakkam Stadium ( I think) was free. Too bad, being a part of a sports crazy wing gumbal, we never knew that . Most of them passionately follow cricket, football, tennis , hockey and F1 . Phew !

3) The training sessions , practice, exercise etc are near perfect. Having undergone many similar ones , I can vouch for the authenticity. Once again, I never felt SRK was acting . Full marks on this count.

4) The choice of the girls - Apart from a couple of them, there was no glamour or oomph content.They were pretty much the cliched girl-next-door types. Sensible

5) This is the best part - It is devoid of the Great Indian Film Curse. No songs, duets or love track. Almost all the Indian movies of this genre have had a love track. Lagaan, in fact, had a small triangle element too, with the firangi also putting fight for Aamir. Closer home , Sye in telugu, based on rugby had a full love track with 6 songs. And much closer, Chennai -600028 , based on gully cricket, had duets too.

6) The players are asked to register at the desk before the training for the WC . An AP female , Nethra Reddy, says
Nethra, Andhra Pradesh se .
The clerk says- Oh Madrasi ho kya .
She - Nahi Andhra se hoon.
He - Madrasi ya Andhra, Kya farak hai .
She - Utna hi jitna ek Rajasthani aur Bihari mein.
Perfectly sums up the attitude of the guys above Vindhyas .

7) I am not sure of this one, but there are many who feel Muslims in India support Pakistan in an Indo-Pak match. While I personally know of some classmates in my school who did that , but that is a very minute fraction. As expected , SRK aka Kabir Khan, center forward, and captain, goofs up the shot in the WC final against Pakistan and is branded a traitor. In fact a guy scribbles gaddar on his wall. This needs guts , given the superstar status he enjoys , and also due to the fact that he is also a Muslim.

Readers are welcome to chip in with their views . My personal rating - * * * * (scale of 5)