Never before had I watched field hockey (called just "hockey" throughout the picture), but getting the gist looked easy enough. At any rate, I chose to watch this partly because I had plenty of time to kill and partly because I can count on a sports flick to end happily. Or at worst, it's not a very important defeat.
In a Men's FIH Hockey World Cup match, Indian team captain Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) makes a shot so bad that, in conjunction with his Islamic faith, people widely assume he took a dive in Pakistan's favor. Under pressure, he resigns and even moves out of town. Seven years later, he sees the opportunity for redemption when invited to coach the women's team. Of course, he wouldn't get that chance if officials had a high opinion of the female players....
I'd heard before about India's rampant sexism, but it rarely figures in the plots of cinema I've seen. Here, lots of men regard women's hockey as a sideshow at best. One player (Sagarika Ghatge) finds that her fiancé (Vivan Bhatena) thinks it's no career at all compared with his cricket position, and he doesn't even consult her on setting the wedding date. Two other players (Kimi Laldawla and Masochon Zimik) get verbal sexual harassment more than once, apparently in connection with their "Chinese" appearance. At one point, the team has to play a match against men just to demonstrate that they've earned a place at the World Cup.
Lest you think all the obstacles external, Kabir acts much like a drill sergeant, to the dismay of most players. I generally agree with him, because for all their athletic prowess, they tend to need to learn a lot more humility and perhaps national patriotism to exhibit teamwork. Several treat each other like enemies, and one (Tanya Abrol) has real anger issues. Kabir's own hubris almost ruins it when the senior player (Shilpa Shukla) calls for a walkout, but at least they can unite on something.
I'm a little disappointed that this wasn't based on a true story, but it does take inspiration from the 2002 Commonwealth Games. I only wish I knew how much of an underdog India was at that time. In any event, the soundtrack, while not producing a music video-length sequence, does enhance the cheerfulness of the movie.
I could appreciate a few moments of comic relief. Unfortunately, the subtitles have to throw in parenthetical extra information for non-Indian audiences to understand some.
CD!I is hardly groundbreaking, even if unusually feminist for the country. But if you have 149 minutes, you'll probably get some joy out of it.
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