As sports anchors love to exclaim ‘It’s ‘Super Sunday’ today for by mid-afternoon the intrepid, path-breaking ‘Indian Women in Blue’ will step out one Final time to have a dash at lifting the Women’s World Cup that has so far eluded them, on occasions with heartbreaking closeness. After that historic SF win, it’s going to be ‘edge of seat’ stuff !
And fortuitously today also happens to the 60th Birthday of the phenomenalstar/actor who played the fictional Coach in the brilliant sports film ‘Chak De’ (2007) who instils belief & fortitude in a team of women hockey players who go on to lift the World Cup. Sharukh Khan also known as ‘King Khan’ and ‘Badshah of Bollywood’ for his exalted superstar status in Hindi filmdom turns ‘60’ (finally !) without denting his image as the ‘eternal symbol of romance’. There are glowing tributes flowing in for the man who created a ‘Larger than Life’ persona in a tough industry, despite being an outsider !
To be honest, many senior citizens like me, have been film buffs since our school days and have been weaned on veteran acting stalwarts like Balraj Sahni, Dadamoni (Ashok Kumar), Dilip Kumar etc, the Rajesh Khanna craze of the 70’s and the emergence of the ‘Angry Young Man’ cult that Big B ushered in thereafter. Not to be great followers of SRK’s of ‘stutter and speak’, ‘throw arms wide open’ and ‘crinkle eyes’ in plethora of films of ‘romance’ of ‘Mills & Boon’ variety, shouldn’t be taken as us acting superior !
But I had been completely bowled by his high-powered, no holds barred, performance in ‘Chak De’ as ‘Kabir’ the beleaguered Hockey Coach (based on an Indian Coach) who takes it upon himself to form a champion team of ‘diverse, disunited women’ from all parts and prepare them for competing in the World Cup against the best in business. As the girls rally around him with spirit of ‘will to win’ inthe Finals he gives a stirring speech ‘Woh Sattar Minute !’ where he exhorts them to give the best they’ve ever given.
Today as rejuvenated Indian Women take on the resilient South Africans in the Finals that promises to be a humdinger, we should have SRK, the Evergreen Birthday Boy, giving an inspiring message to the girls. Except it’ll have to be ‘WOH 700 MINUTES’ !
Working on Living 