10 yrs on, SRK and team relive the 'Chak De!' journey

Agencies
August 8, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 8: With its message of patriotism, secularism and women's empowerment, "Chak De! India" continues to be a film for the times 10 years on, says the team of Shimit Amin, Jaideep Sahni and Shah Rukh Khan.

For director Shimit, story writer Jaideep and star Shah Rukh, this is one that will live on, and not just in their filmographies.

Born from Jaideep's anger at the apathy towards women athletes, the film tells the story of an unsung women's hockey team and their disgraced coach Kabir Khan seeking redemption in their world cup victory.

"The film is patriotic without being jingoist, it is cool without being frivolous, it is intense but not boring," Shah Rukh said.

"Chak De!", regarded as one of Indian cinema's most successful and loved sports films, was released on August 10, 2007.

Shah Rukh says he did the film, which he describes as one of the most special in his career, for his father.

"Shimit made it beautifully and I am glad that Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) thought of me as Kabir Khan. They waited for me for more than a year. The heart and the soul of the film are the young girls."

Due to his romantic hero persona, many thought he would not be able to pull off Kabir Khan's character, says Shah Rukh.

"It is one of the few films of mine which opened very poorly. I was really disturbed. My father used to play hockey. The only reason I did this film was because I could use something that my father had taught me. I was emotionally attached with the film. But it did really well after opening poorly."

He was so nervous about the film's future that he left for London. "It was a lovely film and I did not want to hear all that (negativity)."

Shimit says the team approached the story with idealism. "We felt it was a special film and something that would be made on its own. We believed in the idealism of what we were doing. We had this amazing sense that we were going to make the best film that we could. There was no calculation involved."

The director, who went on to make "Rocket Singh", says "Chak De!" did not impress viewers in a test screening. They realised they had a successful film only after its release.

Asked why they picked Shah Rukh for a role that involved no romance, the director says they wanted someone with a certain kind of grace and dignity. "Shah Rukh had that presence. He had that maturity. He also came from a middle class background. There were a lot of things that felt right about him. Adi pitched the film to SRK and he told us that it sounded very interesting to him."

Amongst Shimit's favourite moments from the film is Kabir Khan's "Yeh sattar minute" monologue.

"This was a sports film and we needed a motivational speech. It was exciting to see SRK act that part. He really killed it."

Another favourite scene is Kabir Khan's reaction when the team actually wins -- there are no tears, no hugs just a deep sigh as he turns away from the euphoria on the field.

The director says he is glad that they did not opt for a conventional ending.

"When you come to think of it, this is not a very 'filmy' moment. We had seen a Japanese coach react like that during Olympics. The idea behind the scene was that this person has given so much of himself that he no longer knows how to react.

"He had held himself together for this particular moment and then he just does not know. There is a separation that starts for him right at that moment. He realises that he is no longer a part of this game and has done his bit and it is now over."

For writer Jaideep, the story is a "piece of his heart" he shared with the world.

"As a writer I feel like 'Chak De!' is a piece of my heart which now belongs to everybody. There were things that we felt very emotional about and we wanted to say those things with the film," says the man who also wrote "Khosla Ka Ghosla" and "Company".

The writer says they were very careful in portraying patriotism in the film.

"Patriotism does not mean ignoring our own shortcomings and just going on praising ourselves. It is about seeing the shortcomings and rising above it. Patriotism does not mean criticising people who are different from us or the countries which are different from us."

It all started when he spotted an article about women athletes in the back page of a newspaper, a story, he says, that should have been on the front page.

"Women athletes have always been great. It is just that nobody knew about them. The more time I spent with them the more angry I became. They are not the first people that come to your mind when you think about national heroes. The whole motivation was to create a bridge between them and the rest of the country," Sahni says.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Patna, Aug 3: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Sunday charged that Vinay Tiwari, the IPS officer from Patna who is in Mumbai to probe a case related to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, has been "forcibly quarantined" by civic authorities in the metropolis.

Tiwari is heading a Bihar Police team which is in Mumbai to investigate an ''abetment to suicide'' case on the basis of a complaint filed by the late actor's father in Patna.

"IPS officer Vinay Tiwari reached Mumbai today from Patna on official duty to lead the police team there but he has been forcibly quarantined by BMC officials at 11 PM today," Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Pandey tweeted.

"He was not provided accommodation in the IPS mess, despite request, and was staying in a Guest House in Goregaon," he said.

Sushant's sister Shweta Singh Kirti has tweeted, " What? Is this even for real? How can an officer sent on duty be quarantined for 14 Days?".

Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his Bandra residence on June 24 last.

Last month, Rajput's father lodged an FIR here of abetment to suicide naming actress Rhea Chakraborty, said to be close to the deceased Patna-born actor, and her family members as accused. Tiwari was posted as the City SP (East) in Patna.

The Mumbai Police, which is also probing the death case, have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry that include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Chennai, Feb 10: The Income Tax Department on Monday summoned Tamil actor Vijay over charges of tax evasion and his alleged links with financier Anbu Chezhiyan.

The development comes after the IT Department on Friday carried out a raid at the actor's residence in Panaiyur area in Chennai.

IT sleuths held searches in connection with the success of a recent film which was a Box Office hit, collecting around Rs 300 crore.

As per sources, the IT Department on Thursday recovered Rs 65 crores from the residence of Vijay's alleged financer in Chennai during raids which were carried out in the connection with the tax evasion case linked to AGS Cinemas.

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News Network
March 16,2020

New Delhi, Mar 16: Joining other big names from the industry in raising the awareness about the novel coronavirus, actor Katrina Kaif on Sunday ensured the safety and urged everyone to take all the preventive measures to combat the spread of the virus.

The 36-year-old actor shared a post on Instagram along with a caption that read: "..... hope everyone is staying safe ... please follow all precautionary safety measures as recommended by the health professionals .... exercise and meditation help your body`s immune system ... keep your environment clean and happy."

In the shared post, she is seen posing for the camera along with her girlfriends, all seen in happy faces.

Earlier in the day actor Parineeti Chopra too took to Twitter and urged her fans to adopt social distancing to stop the highly contagious virus from spreading.

This comes three days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced coronavirus as a global pandemic.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

As of Sunday, the total cases of coronavirus reported in India is 107, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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