by Anne Parker

Created on: September 07, 2009

Chak De! India is a fantastic movie about learning what the true meaning of dedication is, what the true meaning of friendship is, and what it means to be patriotic to your country. SRK plays Kabir Khan, a professional hockey player that was accused of cheating and helping Pakistan win the Men's Hockey Championship World Cup. 7 years later, he is selected to coach the Indian Women's National Hockey Team, made up of 16 girls from states all around India.

The team is off to a rough start. Several teammates get into a fight and are sent onto the bench until they apologize to not only their coach but their team also. Kabir is rough on the girls, making them wake up at four in the morning to run ten kilometers every day. When the team gets back to their cabins one night, sweaty and in some cases bloody, from practice, they decide that enough is enough. They all sign a petition for the resignation of their coach. The next day at a lunch when some men shout at two of the girls on the team, the whole team gets in to beat them up for hitting on their teammates. After all the commotion is over, they all realize that all of coach Kabir's training has made them less of a team and more like a family.

Kabir's dream for the team is to make it to the World Cup tournament in Australia, but the council of Indian National Sports says that the men's hockey team should go to represent India instead. The two coaches organize a match for the next day. The winner can go to compete for the World Cup in Australia. The men's team wins, but they all acknowledge that the girls put up a great fight and have a huge chance of winning in the tournament.

When the team arrives in Australia, their first match is against 6 time World Cup winners Australia. India was no match for them. After losing their first game, everyone thought that India was hopeless. But the team had one more chance to stay in the game. If they beat England, they would go on to play Spain, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, and then finally Korea. India miraculously wins all of these games, and they get into the finals along with Australia.

In Chak De! India, Kabir teaches the women what it means not to play for fame, fortune, or government housing, but to play for the love of the game, and ultimately for love of your country.

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