Chak De! India

An Indian film built around a women's hockey team. Kabir was captain of the national side. He missed a penalty in a final and the match was lost. Then the accusation came. It was said he had sold the match because he was Muslim; his family had to move out of the neighbourhood and he disappeared for seven years. He comes back. He goes to the federation and asks to coach the women's national team. Nobody takes the team seriously. The federation's officials say openly that women's hockey is unnecessary. The squad arrives. Sixteen players from sixteen different states, a group that trusts nobody. From there the film is a story of building a team. Training, quarrels, walkouts, an incident in a restaurant and a tournament. The problems are not on the field. The players speak in the name of their own states, separate themselves by region, and will not accept a common name. Kabir's first act is to break that. He removes the names from the shirts. What the narrative is interested in is not sport but belonging: the film shows the team and the coach dealing with the same question, who really counts as being from this country. Each player is given her own line. One is married and her husband does not want her to play, one lives in her father's shadow, one is going out with a famous cricketer. The match scenes are shot realistically. Most of the cast trained in hockey and the field sections are not inflated with slow motion. The narrative is inspired by an athlete's story. There was a national goalkeeper who faced a similar accusation, and the character starts from that. Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malvade, Sagarika Ghatge and Chitrashi Rawat are in the cast. Shimit Amin directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes sports films and ensemble narratives. Who it is not for: anyone looking for something outside the template; the structure is familiar and the ending comes as expected.