Team that had no money to buy basics inspired Shah Rukh Khan’s greatest film; actor was sure it will flop

Screenwriter Jaideep Sahni, who had previously penned genre-defining films like Company and Khosla Ka Ghosla, stumbled upon the story by chance. In an interview with the Screenwriters Association, he recalled: “So, the India’s Women Hockey team had won a big international tournament, and it was a very small article in a leading newspaper about it. And when I read it, to be honest, I was taken aback because firstly, back then, this was the early 2000s, I had no idea that there was a women’s hockey team even. Nobody in this country ever bothered about hockey. And then, to top it with women’s hockey, so there was no way. And the way that journalist had written about their victory, my chest swelled up with great pride.”

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Moved by the article, Jaideep began researching the team, though he had no immediate plans to make a film. “I was thinking about either writing a book about them or possibly make a documentary. But as I went into their stories more deeply, I got very attached to each one of them and to the subject. As I spent time with them, I realised they just didn’t have the money for the most basic things.” He recounted an attempt to secure funds with the team’s coach, a three-time Olympian.

“So we went to meet a politician and told him that Asia Cup is coming and we need some funds for the jersey. And that politician had a factory which produced track pants, so we requested if he could give us some, as in a factory there is always extra output being produced which sometimes doesn’t even get used. That politician had a brand called ‘American Fantasy,’ so he asked us to use his brand name on the jersey. And we were like, how is it possible to have ‘American Fantasy’ written on a national team jersey? He said that he can’t help us then.” Frustrated, Jaideep took it upon himself to secure sponsors.

“I went to every big brand. I started from fitness drinks and ended up with makeup brands. Everyone just told me there is no audience, no sponsor, and this is the line which I eventually used in the film as well. But in short, I got no help.” Seeing the girls’ excitement and their faith in him, Jaideep finally resolved: “I started crying and decided I will, by anyhow, make a film on them so that the world gets to know them and all the sponsors come down to them for deals.”

Shah Rukh Khan, alongside filmmaker Shimit Amin and screenwriter Jaideep Sahni, during the making of the film.

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The Story of Coach Mir Ranjan Negi

Shah Rukh Khan’s Kabir Khan was reportedly inspired by Mir Ranjan Negi, a former Indian goalkeeper. Negi had faced national humiliation after conceding seven goals against Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final, leading to his removal from the team. He returned 16 years later as a goalkeeping coach for the women’s team. Under his guidance, India won the 1998 Asian Games gold at Bangkok. However, the joy was short-lived, as he and several others were later sacked by the federation. Negi returned to train the girls again, helping secure the Commonwealth Games gold in 2002.

Negi also served as technical director for the film. In an interview with Hindustan Times, he said: “When they were writing the screenplay, they faced some technical problems regarding hockey. Then they approached me and appointed me as the technical director of the movie. Almost 35–40 percent of the movie was about hockey and I had to teach the girls the game so that it looked real on the screen. It was real fun working with them as some of them had never touched a hockey stick in their life.”

Jaideep Sahni recalled how, on the first day of release, no one came to watch the film.

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Making Chak De! India

Jaideep recalled in the Netflix documentary series The Romantics that, after promising the girls a film, he was unsure how it would happen, until producer-director Aditya Chopra stepped in: “We were finishing the readings of Bunty Aur Babli and Adi asked me what I want to do next, and I told him that I have a story to tell which I really want to tell and if I don’t tell it then I’ll go back to Delhi, I don’t like all this stuff. So then I told him about all the athletes I met, all the girls, the coaches, what they face, the dire conditions they live in, the fact that they couldn’t change in washrooms because the bulbs had been stolen a long time back, and it wasn’t safe. And two girls would hold up a jersey and then the third one would change behind it. So I told him everything about how they need to be famous and he immediately said, ‘let’s do it.'”

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No one came to watch Chak De! and then…

The film, made on a budget of Rs 20 crore, went on to earn Rs 109 crore and received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for Shah Rukh Khan’s performance. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Its title song remains an enduring anthem at sporting events across India. Jaideep also recalled how unconventional the film was for its time: “So we were in America at the time of release for some screening and promotion. The day it released, I immediately called Yash ji (Yash Chopra) to ask how the response was. And he told me, ‘Bete, nobody has turned up to watch it.’ This was the first day. And we knew it might not work, as when he had released the trailer, the distributors had sent us it back saying people were teasing and hooting after seeing the actresses in the trailer, mocking ‘how come she can be a heroine?’ But luckily, within days, the entire theaters were running houseful all across the country.”

Shah Rukh Khan had also spoken about how the team was not happy with the way the film had turned out. Speaking to students at the University of Edinburgh, Shah Rukh had said, “The (Chak De! India) girls didn’t know this because for them seeing themselves on screen for the first time was a big thing. So they were irritatingly screaming and dancing while the four of us were sitting there and crying. We had reached that stage of failure where you start telling people listen we did what we wanted to. This is what we set out to make and success and failure is transient and we will come back. It was really really sad.”

He said the team dispersed before the film’s release, “After the screening, Shimit ran away to America, I came to England and all of us dispersed. I switched off my phone and went to sleep. I woke up at 4 in the evening after an intake of lot of alcohol as I was very depressed because we thought the film was good and it turned out not so nice. So I woke up at 4 and it was 9 in the morning in India. And by then everybody, the whole country had loved the film and it was such a huge success that we actually didn’t believe it.”