(A couple of months ago, for the 15th anniversary of Chak De, I wrote this article for a publication. It was commissioned, edited and published, but it was taken down the same day. The editor told me it was “technical glitch” but now, it’s been 2.5 months and the glitch hasn’t been sorted. In the meantime, I’ve heard of other writers’ work being taken down from that site if it spoke about minority oppression.).
When I first watched Chak De! India 15 years ago, one of the things that instinctively bothered me, though I was too young to articulate it then, was that when Kabir Khan and his mother leave their home, amidst the accusation of being a ‘gaddar’, no neighbour or friend is standing up for them. Is there no one in their mohalla who they were friends with, I wondered? Wouldn’t someone miss them? And wouldn’t they silently, if not publicly, ask the others to be more kind?
Fifteen years later, I know the answer. They wouldn’t. We wouldn’t.
As I sit down to write this, the news coming in from everywhere is proof that nothing much has changed in the last 15 years. Things only seem to have become worse. I read on Twitter that the Indian Women’s hockey team has lost the Commonwealth Games Semi-Finals to Australia 3-0 in a penalty shootout. Fifteen years on, Indian women’s hockey is notoriously neglected. Gender discrimination is rampant. And, of course, Muslims are still perceived as enemies of the state.
No one knows this better than Shah Rukh Khan.
Chak De! India was a story of the quintessential underdog triumph. It wasn’t just the triumph of a women’s team over the dismal conditions and mentality of families, media, and fans. It was as much (if not more) the triumph of their Muslim coach in his attempt to prove his patriotism.
Chak De has achieved cult status in the country. There are still memes referencing 70 minutes of crucial and intense time. The title song became a national sports anthem, and the dialogues are a part of everyday life. The brawl scene in Mcdonald’s became an example of implicit brand placements, mentioned in B-schools and quizzes. “Ja Dikha de apne launde ko” was a mantra of female solidarity. There’s a lot to celebrate about Chak De and the impact it has had on our pop culture over the decade and a half. A sports film par excellence, it doesn’t lose its thrill even with multiple rewatchings. And, of course, Shah Rukh is gorgeous.
It also marks one of the first times he truly embraced his Muslim identity on screen. (Sure, he played a Muslim in Hey Ram, but that never captured people’s imagination the way Chak De did). In Chak de, the Muslim identity is a crucial part of the plot, and it is emphasized with the references to his name, his betrayal, and his religious/inspirational chants. SRK goes on to play the Muslim protagonist in multiple films after this — My Name is Khan, Dear Zindagi, Raees, and the upcoming Pathan.
In 2017, journalist Rana Ayub said about SRK in an article on NDTV, “In a country where it is rare to find a Muslim or a Christian character as the lead in films, with minorities usually reduced to caricatures and stereotypes, the fact that the biggest star plays a Muslim in three simultaneous films (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Dear Zindagi, Raees) is a strong message to a country, a rebellion that needs to be noticed and lauded.”
This week, we have another movie releasing by two superstars: one a Muslim man, one married to a Muslim man, with children named after rulers who happen to be Muslim- Taimur and Jehangir. Calls to boycott the movie grow louder, the posters and WhatsApp messages about the same more and more disgusting. Aamir Khan has declared that he loves India. Of course, we need to wear our patriotism on our sleeves. Whether it is with a birth certificate or with the shouting of slogans, with the display of the National Flag or standing up in the movie hall when the anthem is played, we are all being asked to prove our patriotism again and again and again. No one more than Muslims in India.
If you are a privileged Muslim actor in India, you can continue making movies worth 100 crores that will face threats of boycott, and maybe your family members will end up in jail for months on flimsy charges. For a regular ordinary Muslim person, you might get lynched if you are suspected of eating a certain kind of meat.
In the final scenes of Chak De! India, the team overcomes all kinds of external and internal challenges to defeat the favourites, Australia, and win the tournament. Yet, it is not just the journey of the women who have faced gender stereotypes, family pressure, anger issues, and race and language discrimination. It is as much a journey of their Muslim coach, who will finally make it back ‘home’ where he was labeled a traitor and forced to leave. It is a grim picture that Chak De presents. That nothing will ever be enough to get the kind of acceptance and belonging all citizens of this country should feel. Maybe if you do something as grand as winning a world cup, you might be spared for a few days.
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