A/N: It's been months since I saw Chak De, so forgive any factual errors. If you haven't seen the movie, this doesn't contain any spoilers – everything in here was revealed in the details of the story people knew before release. And also if you haven't seen it, please do as soon as possible! It's really a brilliant movie and so much more than just a sports film.
This is set quite soon after India loses the match to Pakistan. Please read and review!
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Redemption
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Kabir Khan, eccentric captain of India's national hockey team is well-known for his hot temper and bluntness. When interviewed, his responses are generally short, sharp and brutally honest, something that every journalist has gotten accustomed to. What this reporter did not expect, however, was last Friday's violent physical attack from the captain following a simple question about where his loyalties lay in the world of hockey.
Following India's shameful defeat at the score of 1-0 at the hands of Pakistan at the recent World Cup, many fans of the sport are outraged and humiliated. The oddest thing is, India's national hockey team had never been playing better; hockey fans sincerely believed that India had the best shot at the World Cup this year. It is not so much the score which incenses them so, but the fact that the team's dignity could have been saved by India's drawing with Pakistan and possibly winning a tie-breaker.
In fact, when Kabir 'Sure-Shot' Khan volunteered to take the penalty shot himself in the last few minutes of the game, fans became less anxious – surely the single player to score the most goals in this year's World Cup series would not let them down. Surely he would score. The fans who had prepared themselves to cheer in advance were to be disappointed, however. The goal was lost, and it seemed 'Sure-Shot' had lost his footing.
If it were just a question of bad luck, had Pakistan's goalkeeper saved the goal, nobody would have thought anything of it. But it seems something rather more sinister was at work: replays of the penalty shot showed that the ball missed the net and posts by several inches. Given Khan's hockey talent and his brilliant playing in this year's World Cup Series, nobody could really believe that it was just an accident. Could money have changed hands before the match? Or was Khan simply losing the match in sympathy of his co-religionists? As one Indian sport official rightly puts it, 'Such people should have moved to Pakistan before partition.' There are rumours of an investigation––
Kabir snorted, throwing the newspaper aside. He made a mental note to throw it out before his mother found it: he might have gotten somewhat used to the media's rubbish, but she had not and probably never would. It had been four days since that match, four days that they had spent shut inside their house, son depressed and mother worried. Only today at his urging had she gone to visit her friends, finally looking to be recovering from her son's blow, something she had felt more severely even than he had. A little thing like this stupid article would destroy what little composure she had regained over the past few days.
As for Kabir, he had almost come to terms with India losing the World Cup. The shock had worn off and he could only conclude that sometimes these things happened, and it was his job to ensure that they never did again. Team practice would resume next week, and he had no intention of retiring from the team as the media screamed for him to do. He would never–
Interrupted from his thoughts by the doorbell, he rose wearily to answer it, wondering who it could be. There were no visitors scheduled to arrive and the neighbours who had known him all his life had already dropped by to tell him exactly what they thought of him. He opened the door to reveal Jaidev, one of his fellow team members. They weren't exactly friends, but each had a healthy respect for the other's game.
Kabir just couldn't be bothered mustering up curiosity as to why Jaidev was here. He was sure to find out soon anyhow. Whatever it was, he doubted it was good – nobody had any good news for him lately. Moreover, Jaidev was looking rather uncomfortable, not quite meeting his eyes and returned his greeting rather distractedly.
Given that Jaidev was normally not at all like this, Kabir couldn't help wondering, even as he led his teammate into his house what on earth he was here for. Clearly, it was something important if it brought him all the way here in person. However, no light was shed in the walk down the hall to the living room.
Jaidev was now perched on the edge of his chair, absently playing with the zip of the sports bag he had brought with him. Kabir stared at him, rather perplexed. He had never seen the normally focussed Jaidev so flustered. He spoke to break the silence. 'D'you want some tea or coffee or something?'
Jaidev started, looking quickly up at him before his gaze fell back to the carpet. He shook his head. 'No thanks.' Then he looked up again. 'On second thought, could I have some water?'
'Sure,' Kabir replied bemusedly. When he came back with the water, Jaidev was still fidgeting with the zip. Kabir sighed. 'Did you come here just to say hi, or something?' he asked. There was a bite in his voice and he felt suddenly exhausted. He had no more patience to deal with this.
Jaidev stood suddenly, holding out the sports bag. 'I came here to give you this,' he said stiffly, not quite meeting Kabir's eyes.
Kabir took the bag, slightly bewildered once more. An awkward silence fell again. It could not be helped. They did not have much to say to each other. However, Jaidev had taken the effort to come personally to his house to give him this bag, so he probably should at least try and make conversation, little as he wanted to. 'How are Nikhil and the other guys holding up? I haven't talked to them since the match.'
It was customary to speak about team members like they were invalids every time they lost a game. The disappointment was as debilitating as any illness.
Jaidev's expression was enough. Kabir winced inwardly. 'That bad, huh?' His next words flashed with a shadow of the previous manic enthusiasm. 'Well, it's our job as a team to make sure this never happens again. They're coming for training, right?'
Jaidev muttered that he supposed they would and hurriedly left with the excuse that he had to pick up relatives from the airport. The glass of water stood on the coffee table, untouched.
It was not until that evening after planning some training sessions that Kabir, on opening the sports bag found his uniform accompanied by an expulsion letter from the board of officials. Redemption moved that much further away.
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A/N: So? How was it? Please review! And what are your thoughts about Chak De? Could any other actor have replaced SRK and would the movie have made as much of an impact? If any of the girls in the team were already-famous actresses, would they have connected to the audience as well as they did?