“Chak De, India” a recent Hindi movie is possibly the best thing that could have happened for hockey in India.
Famous Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan, plays the role of coach of the Indian womens hockey team. This unfancied group of girls who saw themselves as representing their States are made into a perfect team in the course of the movie. In the movie, the girls win the World Hockey championship. This movie is without doubt one of the best films on sports ever made in India. It brings out the positive aspects of effective coaching and the power of team spirit.
Although the story is supposedly fictitious, it is based on the story of Mir Ranjan Negi, India’s goal keeper when they were thrashed 7-1 by arch rivals Pakistan in the Asian Games of 1982. Negi was dubbed a traitor in the media and underwent all kinds of humiliation. He fought back and redeemed his honour when he was the coach of the Indian team which won the Asian Games gold medal in 1998.