Chak De India (and some vanity)
Aug. 27th, 2007 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI got a haircut today. Cut my hair really short, only up to my chin. It's the first time I had short hair since I was 14 :) And I dyed it, too, first time in my life. I love it.
But this isn't about that. It's about Chak De India.
I finally saw CDK. I had no intention of seeing it, despite my SRK love because I simply can't stand sports movies (yes, I fast-forwarded through half of Lagaan, i.e. every cricket bit they had). But people seemed so enthusiastic about it, so I gave it a chance.
And? I was so wrong in my preconceptions! I loved it. Loved it to bits. I think this is one of SRK's best performances: not only is he very restrained and plays a role he doesn't normally does, but he made me feel for Kabir immensely, even if we never really learn much about his private persona. And I think it was fitting we didn't: Kabir was all about the game. He liked some of his players (though as long as they played well and how he wanted, he didn't care that much about their likeability), he believed in women's equality, he was about fair play (I love the bit when he finally interferes in the McDonalds fight and hits one of the men, because you don't attack from the back) etc etc, but ultimately for him it was about redemption (for his failure to hit the goal), and vindication, and above all the game. It's fitting we see almost nothing about his private life. We don't know if he has a gf/wife, what he did for the past 7 years, if he likes pets, or eats his fries with ketchup on them. But because of SRK, and the direction, and the script, you really got to know Kabir as person, not a character, saw how painfully real he was, from his desperate pride (he always seems ready for someone else to fling accusations at him) to his ruthless streak to his self-containment.
To me, this was a rare movie that didn't put a foot wrong, no handwaving moment, no 'I liked it, but...' It was emotional but not melodramatic, and spot on from all the emotional interactions to the fact that none of the girls looked like stars. They looked like players. Even Preeti, the 'pretty' one in the group, looked like a normal attractive girl, not someone glamorous. I loved all the actresses, even the ones in smaller roles: they felt real and I wanted to know more about them, I was rooting for them, and I was on the edge of my seat during the games.
And I love that while it was a movie full of messages, it wasn't a message movie. It wasn't preachy, or shrill, or cursorily hitting every 'proper' point. It is the most feminist Bollywood movie I've seen, but it wasn't strident. However, the insistence of Kabir on the fact that the girls are equal of boys, and the girls' own worth and proving of that equality, and even his giving the hockey stick to the little girl at the end? It was wonderful. SRK's movies are often strongly feminist lately (Paheli, anyone?), but this definitely took the cake. Which just makes me admire him the more. But it had other messages too: about unity (look at those girls being treated as exotics in their own country), and press sensationalism (Kabir's life was destroyed because the media was annoyed and needed something to fill the airtime), and even the fact that as a Muslim, Kabir was automatically assumed suspect in the loss to Pakistan (I love the scene where his friend tells him that everyone is allowed one mistake, and Kabir looks at him, and asks, a little bitterly: 'everyone?').
The one scene, out of so many, that really stayed with me the most was when the team won, and Kabir's face, it's as if despite it all, he couldn't believe it would happen, and the pride, and vindication and sheer vulnerability and yearning just...I started sobbing. At a victory in a sports film. Seems ridiculous but not when the movie is this amazingly made. I simply must watch it again.
I am sure I have a lot more but I need to organize my thoughts...it was incredible.
But this isn't about that. It's about Chak De India.
I finally saw CDK. I had no intention of seeing it, despite my SRK love because I simply can't stand sports movies (yes, I fast-forwarded through half of Lagaan, i.e. every cricket bit they had). But people seemed so enthusiastic about it, so I gave it a chance.
And? I was so wrong in my preconceptions! I loved it. Loved it to bits. I think this is one of SRK's best performances: not only is he very restrained and plays a role he doesn't normally does, but he made me feel for Kabir immensely, even if we never really learn much about his private persona. And I think it was fitting we didn't: Kabir was all about the game. He liked some of his players (though as long as they played well and how he wanted, he didn't care that much about their likeability), he believed in women's equality, he was about fair play (I love the bit when he finally interferes in the McDonalds fight and hits one of the men, because you don't attack from the back) etc etc, but ultimately for him it was about redemption (for his failure to hit the goal), and vindication, and above all the game. It's fitting we see almost nothing about his private life. We don't know if he has a gf/wife, what he did for the past 7 years, if he likes pets, or eats his fries with ketchup on them. But because of SRK, and the direction, and the script, you really got to know Kabir as person, not a character, saw how painfully real he was, from his desperate pride (he always seems ready for someone else to fling accusations at him) to his ruthless streak to his self-containment.
To me, this was a rare movie that didn't put a foot wrong, no handwaving moment, no 'I liked it, but...' It was emotional but not melodramatic, and spot on from all the emotional interactions to the fact that none of the girls looked like stars. They looked like players. Even Preeti, the 'pretty' one in the group, looked like a normal attractive girl, not someone glamorous. I loved all the actresses, even the ones in smaller roles: they felt real and I wanted to know more about them, I was rooting for them, and I was on the edge of my seat during the games.
And I love that while it was a movie full of messages, it wasn't a message movie. It wasn't preachy, or shrill, or cursorily hitting every 'proper' point. It is the most feminist Bollywood movie I've seen, but it wasn't strident. However, the insistence of Kabir on the fact that the girls are equal of boys, and the girls' own worth and proving of that equality, and even his giving the hockey stick to the little girl at the end? It was wonderful. SRK's movies are often strongly feminist lately (Paheli, anyone?), but this definitely took the cake. Which just makes me admire him the more. But it had other messages too: about unity (look at those girls being treated as exotics in their own country), and press sensationalism (Kabir's life was destroyed because the media was annoyed and needed something to fill the airtime), and even the fact that as a Muslim, Kabir was automatically assumed suspect in the loss to Pakistan (I love the scene where his friend tells him that everyone is allowed one mistake, and Kabir looks at him, and asks, a little bitterly: 'everyone?').
The one scene, out of so many, that really stayed with me the most was when the team won, and Kabir's face, it's as if despite it all, he couldn't believe it would happen, and the pride, and vindication and sheer vulnerability and yearning just...I started sobbing. At a victory in a sports film. Seems ridiculous but not when the movie is this amazingly made. I simply must watch it again.
I am sure I have a lot more but I need to organize my thoughts...it was incredible.
