In a different time SRK would've never done Chak De! India
The role of the strict , taciturn, laconic, intense yet loving Kabir Khan was an out of the blue decision from SRK
It was at a time when SRK was oscillating between Yrf and Dharma romantic magnum opus
To Farah Khan's commercial masala fare
The choice of doing a movie like Chak De! India and its eventual success both were out of the blue
SRK at the start of his career during the 1992-1994 period was a very gutsy Risky
Who was ready to Deewana in which he played the second lead
Dil Aashna Hai a female multistarer where Divya Bharti ,Dimple Kapadia ,Sonu Walia and Jeetendra were doing all the heavy lifting
King Uncle another 2nd lead movie
Maya Memsaab a movie which was replete with love making scenes a huge taboo for the times
Baazigar the morally compromised yet charismatic anti Hero
Darr the mentally unstable stalker
Anjaam the evil and
sadistic brat
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa the lovable loser
Infact the biggest of them Ahmak The Idiot a movie so unconditional that it didn't get a release altogether and was shown on Doordarshan as a 4 episode mini series SRK had a very grey shaded role in this
all this at a time when Akshay Kumar was doing out and out commercial movies like Mohra
SRK didn't hesitate in sharing screen space the likes of Naseeruddin Shah in ghost comedy Chamatkar
And Nana Patekar in the romantic drama Raju Bangaya Gentleman two absolute scene stealers
But after the double whammy of 1995 with Ddlj and Karan Arjun
triple whammy if we count Ram Jaane also which was hit SRK became as commercial as commercial can be
And started working almost exclusively with the likes of Yash Chopra,
Aditya Chopra
Karan Johar
Farah Khan and what not
There were others such as Ratan Jain of Venus Tapes and Records
Who had also co produced Main Hoon Na Red Chillies Entertainment first movie
Aziz Mirza
Rakesh Roshan with whom SRK regularly work from the 1990s to the early 00s
Even when SRK rarely went out of his selected few and did films like Pardes
And Devdas they were as commercial as can be
SRK due to theses associations of his became the undisputed king of romance and
King of the entire bollywood
When Chak De! India came to Shah Rukh Khan from the director of Ab Tak Chappan the gritty, critically acclaimed underworld drama it was considered a very optimistic approach
SRK was narrated the story while shooting for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna in the USA. He said no initially
And then the makers when to Salman Khan who also refused as it was clashing with the likes of Partner which he was doing then ,he briefly alluded to this and said that he was doing mostly comedies at that time and was not in the frame work to do serious cinema
SRK finally agreed to do it and even changed his look drastically it was the first time SRK grew a beard .
It's said that SRK and the director Shimit Amin and it's writer in the picture Jaideep Sahni regularly clashed with eachother during the making
This was the first time SRK grew a beard and nowadays we are used to seeing him in a beard a myriad of movies such as Don 2,Jthj, Happy New Year,Raees,Pathaan,Jawan etc
Before this he had a beard drawn on him in the movie Baadshah as it was said that SRK couldn't grow a full beard well into his 30s
SRK before Chak De India had never played a full fledged Muslim character before Chak De India. Only brief Cameos he had done in movies like Dushman Duniya Ka and Hey Ram where he played characters belonging to the islamic faith
Contemporaries like Salman Khan in Sanam Bewafa
And Akshay Kumar in Kayda Kanoon where he played inspector Dawood had essayed Muslim characters much before SRK
After Chak De India SRK started regularly essaying Muslim characters in movies like My Name Is Khan,Dear Zindagi,Raees and it's rumoured that he's playing a Muslim character in his up and coming magnum opus King
SRK was know for his virtuous and frivolous Raj and Rahul roles prior to Chak De! India
Kabir Khan on the other hand provided a deep contrast to SRK's earlier characters
SRK was known to do urban love stories in movies like Kal Ho Naa Ho . When he's playing the charmer who's endered by everyone and who can do no wrong
A sports movie which talked about the state of hockey,the prism from which an Indian Muslims loyalty towards his nation is questioned, the women empowerment angle all these topics being broached upon in this one movie.
The last scene where he gets his redemption is so heartwarming to say the least
Former India goalkeeper was called on to provide his technical expertise and nothing but praise for SRK
It's said that the story was based on his life which he at that time had denied velhemtly
It's said SRK was a huge fan of hockey in his youth and played a fair bit of it in University level
SRK was also a huge fan of hockey as seen here he's paying tribute on the death of ace indian hockey player Mohammad Shahid
Not only the movie was a radical departure for SRK it's success itself was surprising barring Baazigar and Darr at the start of his career , it's usually seen that in movies which SRK sheds his romantic and masala hero image have seldom been successful at the box office
Movies like Josh inspite of doing very respectable numbers was categorised as an underperformer
And movies like Swades flopped badly
SRK by his detractors and was being called an actor who can only perform in romantic and masala movies he was being labelled as a one trick poney
After the release of Duplicate SRK was unceremoniously called a bad actor someone who hams on screen
Chak De India's success was a breath of fresh into SRK's filmography, his acting ability and his box office standing
Years later movies like Gold
And Maidaan inspite of having huge stars
couldn't achieve the harmonious blend of critical acclaim and comercial success which SRK had achieved with Chak De! India