Reel turns real: ‘Chak De! India!’ reverberates as Indian women’s hockey team makes history
India’s women’s hockey team made history in the Tokyo Olympics, defeating three-time champions Australia to enter the semi-finals for the first time ever. The Indian women’s real-life triumph against Australia on Monday reflected the reel-life victory, adding extra flavor to this historic win.
Those who have seen the 2007 Indian sports drama ‘Chak De! India’, in which Shah Rukh Khan coaches the Indian women’s team to World Cup victory, may already have the image in their heads.
For those who haven’t watched the movie, ‘Chak De! India’ is a must-watch and an uplifting narrative that deals with the themes of national integration, sportsmanship, women empowerment and gender equality. The super hit Hindi-language sports film (Bollywood) was directed by Shimit Amin and starred legendary actor Shah Rukh Khan. Khan plays Kabir Khan, a former hockey player who is tainted as someone who betrayed his country. However, in order to prove his loyalty to the country, Kabir began coaching the Indian women’s national hockey team.
This reel life victory mirrored today’s real life victory at the Tokyo Olympics, as India defeated Australia in both real and reel matches, and the match results in both were determined by penalty shots. Today’s game was won by Gurjit Kaur, who converted a penalty corner into a goal, and the film concluded in an exciting penalty shootout.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s hockey team also made history by reaching the Tokyo Olympic semi-finals for the first time in four decades after defeating Great Britain 3-1 in a quarter-final match on Sunday. Dilpreet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th), and Hardik Singh (57th) scored three field goals for India. The last time India’s men’s team advanced to the Olympic semifinals was in 1972 in Munich. Manpreet Singh and boys will face Belgium men’s hockey at 7:00 am IST on Tuesday, August 3.
#ChakDeIndia trending on social media
After the remarkable victory of Indian women, the hashtag #ChakDeIndia has gone viral on social media. The hashtag has been trending on Twitter, and many of the actresses who made up the fictional hockey team, as well as Shah Rukh Khan, have praised team India.
Coach Sjoerd Marijne shared a picture from the team bus after their win, with the message “Sorry family, I coming again later”. Reel life Indian coach responded with a message for Sjoerd Marijne, saying, “Haan haan no problem. Just bring some Gold on your way back….for a billion family members.”
Sharing the pictures of Indian Women’s Hockey team, Actress Sagarika Ghatge wrote: ”The Indian women’s hockey team created history today by entering the Olympics semi finals for the first time – congratulations to the whole team and more power to our women.”
Vidya Malavade, who played captain Vidya Sharma in the film, gave a shout out to the squad by sharing photos of both real and reel heroes.
India, captained by Rani Rampal, will face Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
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