"There is no romantic angle in the film" : Shimit Amin
Features
-Staff
By Staff
By:
Faridoon
Shahryar,
IndiaFM
Thursday,
August
09,
2007
"Shahrukh
is
one
of
the
most
professional
actors.
Even
if
you
have
to
put
him
in
a
bucket
full
of
ice
for
six
hours
he
would
do
it," said
Shimit
Amin,
director
of
SRK's
next
Chak
De
India.
The
soft
spoken
behind-the-scenes-man
with
a
heavy
American
accent
is
totally
immersed
in
his
craft
and
finds
the
"unfortunate
publicity"
that
his
film
has
received
as
hard
to
believe.
He
believes
there's
one
publication
that
has
been
publishing
"malicious
reports"
of
his
alleged
'differences'
with
SRK
and
lots
more.
In
this
freewheeling
interview
with
us
the
Ab
Tak
Chappan
director
bares
his
heart
out.
Your
first
film
Ab
Tak
Chappan
(RGV
Company)
was
branded
as
hard
core
realistic
film
while
Yashraj
Films
are
known
mostly
for
their
candy
floss
brand
of
escapist
cinema.
How
did
you
move
from
one
school
of
filmmaking
to
another
with
your
second
film
Chak
De
India?
I
reacted
to
the
script.
I
felt
the
project
is
worth
it
and
I
was
onboard.
It
is
not
the
typical
project.
I
didn't
have
any
problems
doing
it.
It's
being
said
that
Chak
De
is
based
on
Mir
Ranjan
Negi,
the
coach
of
India
women's
hockey
team
that
won
the
gold
at
Manchester
Commonwealth
Games.
It
is
coincidental.
The
script
had
already
been
written.
There
are
similarities
as
all
sports
people
have
their
own
types
of
obstacles.
You
must
be
tired
of
this
question,
but
let's
ask
it
anyways,
why
hockey
as
a
subject
for
your
film
in
a
country
that
worships
cricket.
To
add
to
it
you
are
talking
abut
women's
hockey...
Hockey
is
the
national
game
of
the
country.
There
was
a
time
when
we
had
won
8
gold
medals
in
Olympics.
Now
hockey
has
been
relegated
to
some
other
sport.
It
could
happen
to
cricket.
Hockey
has
a
certain
history;
there
is
something
emotional
about
this
sport.
It
is
a
desi
sport
while
cricket
has
a
colonial
hangover.
I
still
remember
I
was
traveling
in
AC
III
tier
of
Paschim
Express
from
Delhi
to
Mumbai
a
few
years
ago
and
the
same
Indian
Hockey
Women's
team
that
had
won
gold
at
Manchester
was
traveling
along
with
us.
I
recognized
Mamta
Kharab,
the
star
of
Manchester
maybe
because
of
her
short
hair
but
I
don't
think
if
anyone
else
did...
It
is
difficult
to
play
a
sport
that
no
one
watches.
People
don't
care
but
these
players
have
a
certain
passion
for
the
sport.
They
don't
get
respect
even
though
they
play
as
hard
if
not
harder
as
compared
with
other
sports.
There
is
no
funding,
no
one
takes
interest.
There
have
been
reports
in
the
media
stating
that
Women's
Hockey
Federation
has
a
problem
with
Chak
De
India
as
apparently
they
feel
that
the
film
is
trying
to
project
as
if
it
is
only
after
Shahrukh
Khan's
character
takes
over
as
the
coach
that
the
fate
of
Indian
Women's
Hockey
starts
improving...
The
film
has
got
unfortunate
publicity.
There
is
one
source,
one
newspaper
that
is
giving
these
reports.
What's
the
name
of
the
newspaper?
I
won't
take
the
name....We
were
in
the
post
production
when
all
these
malicious
reports
started
coming
in.
Women's
Hockey
Federation
has
been
completely
supportive.
What
about
reports
of
your
alleged
differences
with
Shahrukh
Khan?
He
is
a
professional
actor.
He
has
a
busy
schedule.
Things
had
to
be
worked
around
him.
He
has
this
attachment
for
hockey
as
he
has
played
it
himself.
Once
again
it's
this
one
newspaper
that
is
spreading
these
stories.
Well,
if
one
has
to
quote
these
reports
then
apparently
SRK
was
upset
with
the
many
retakes
you
used
to
take...
One
of
the
things
is
that
Shahrukh
is
one
of
the
most
professional
actors.
Even
if
you
have
to
put
him
in
a
bucket
full
of
ice
for
six
hours
he
would
do
it
just
for
the
heck
of
doing
something
exciting.
These
reports
are
silly.
What
about
stories
that
stated
the
crashing
of
hard
disk
carrying
the
data
of
Chak
De
India?
Anyone
who
has
worked
on
Avid
would
know
that
it's
not
very
hard
to
redigitise.
It
was
one
of
those
articles
that
was
written
without
fact
checking.
Alright,
tell
us
something
about
the
process
of
making
a
film
like
Chak
De
India...I
believe
a
lot
of
time
was
spent
in
setting
up
the
team...
It
was
a
tedious
process.
We
had
to
make
sure
that
every
character
experiences
everything
that
a
player
goes
through.
It
was
an
interesting
experience
for
all
of
us.
The
dedication
for
the
game
just
doesn't
happen
overnight.
A
hockey
match
is
70
minutes.
We
had
to
shoot
8
hours
a
day.
You
have
to
be
super
athlete
to
last
it.
They
had
to
be
conditioned
properly.
It
is
easy
to
shoot
cricket.
Hockey
is
too
fast.
There's
no
romantic
angle
in
a
film
involving
one
of
the
best
romantic
heroes
that
the
Indian
film
industry
has
ever
produced...
There
is
no
romantic
angle
in
the
film.
Shahrukh's
character
is
a
hockey
team
coach
and
he
is
in
love
with
his
country.
We
never
missed
the
romantic
angle.
It
has
all
emotions
and
the
masala.
Chak
De
India
is
releasing
on
August
10th
a
few
days
before
August
15th.
The
timing
is
quite
right
to
whip
up
patriotic
feelings...
We
are
happy.
In
a
weird
way,
the
film
is
about
patriotism
but
not
in
a
jingoistic
way.
It
has
a
patriotic
quality
to
it,
healthy
patriotism
if
I
may
say
so.
What
kind
of
music
do
you
have
in
the
film?
We
went
with
the
script.
It
has
different
soundscapes,
no
lipsync
songs.
The
songs
are
meant
to
boost
the
morale.
There
is
no
romantic
angle,
no
qawwali,
there
was
no
room
for
it.
Finally,
why
do
you
think
should
people
go
to
watch
Chak
De
India?
It
is
a
sports
film.
It
portrays
national
sport
that
has
never
been
done
before.
It
is
a
great
way
to
showcase
a
sport
that
has
never
got
the
right
platform.
It
is
a
story
of
a
coach.
Anybody
can
identify
with
the
dream
of
winning
anything,
this
whole
idea
of
playing
for
the
country.