Shah Rukh Khan played reel and real life hockey coach on the sets of his upcoming film Chak De India! Khan was an avid hockey player in his college days and used his experience to explain how the game is played to his team in the film.
Anjan Srivastav plays a member of the Hockey Board in the films. He told us that SRK himself took the initiative to introduce the game to everyone.
"SRK took the initiative and told us all about the game and how it is played. He told us about the fielding position of the players. He was trying to explain the game to the whole team with the help of pins and marbles. This was not a part of the film… he didn't have to do it," says Srivastav, "We had received a narration already but wanted us to know all about it… how it is played… what are the rules. And as a result we all got a lot more involved."
Anjan says that the King Khan was so enthusiastic about the project that he himself was seen practicing the game on the sets of Chak De India! "Even before the shoot started in Dhyan Chand Auditorium in Delhi, he took a small board on which he was playing hockey.
Along with it he was drawing a sketch in his mind of the ground where the match practice was done. He worked hard on this character."
Speaking about his role in the movie, the experienced actor says that although it isn't a lengthy role it has a lot of meat in it. "It's not that big character…My roles in my earlier films with SRK - Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Kabhi Ha Kabhi Na were longer…But this is a very important character. He is playing the role of a committee member of the Board of Directors and is considered to be responsible for the bad condition of hockey in India. I think the director, Shimit Amin, has depicted the attitude of board members who just take salaries but don't do any work to improve the game in the country very well," says Srivastav.
Chak De India! stars Shah Rukh Khan as the coach of a women's hockey team and TV host and model Vidya Malvade and is directed by Shimit Amin whose previous film Ab Tak Chappan received great reviews.
