THE LAST SAMURAI
The Last Samurai was well received upon release, with a North American box office of $456 million. In addition it was nominated for several awards, including the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review. The paths of two warriors converge when the young Emperor of Japan, hires a Civil War veteran (Cruise) to train Japan's first modern, conscript army. As he encounters the Samurai traditions, the troubled American soldier finds himself at the center of a violent and epic struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his sense of honor to guide him. Towards the end of Ed Zwick’s The Last Samurai, Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) washes away the memories of his brutal past and clears his path to honor and redemption with these words: “A man does what he can until his destiny is revealed.”
MEN OF HONOR
Potent acting enlivens this true story of a black Navy diver fighting 1950s racism President Clinton led the standing ovation at the White House for this true story of Carl Brashear, a sharecropper's son from Kentucky who became the first African-American certified by the Navy as a master chief diver. With Cuba Gooding Jr. playing Brashear at full tilt and Robert De Niro getting in his licks as Billy Sunday, the bigot instructor who becomes Carl's unlikely mentor, Men of Honor is built to push your inspirational buttons Carl Brashear lets nothing stand in the way of his dreams. The son of a Kentucky sharecropper, Carl leaves home for what he expects would be a better life. "Never quit ... be the best," his father had told him, and Carl takes those words to heart. After he joins the newly-integrated Navy, Carl spends two years writing a hundred letters before the service accepts his application for its Dive School program. Carl's training officer, Billy Sunday, wants no part of Carl or his ambitions. Sunday, a celebrated Master Chief Navy Diver whose exploits as a troublemaker are as legendary as his accomplishments as a diver, relentlessly taunts and challenges Carl, expecting him to falter and quit. But Carl has other ideas. His goal is clear, his determination fixed. Nothing will stand in the way of his dream of becoming a Navy Diver. Not even Billy Sunday. Years later, after Carl suffers a crippling injury, he and Sunday unexpectedly join forces. Never one to turn down an opportunity to flout the system, the rebellious senior officer helps Carl buck Navy bureaucracy, overcome the loss of a leg, and go on to make military history. By the time he retires, Carl earns the esteemed titles of Master Diver and Master Chief, the Navy's highest rank for an enlisted man.
FORREST GUMP
Winner of 6 Academy awards and 23 other well acclaimed international awards A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. He struggles through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His 'mamma' teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, starts a table tennis craze, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, creates the smiley, write bumper stickers and songs, donating to people and meeting the president several times. However this is all irrelevant to Forrest! Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. "Forrest Gump" is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
Life Is Beautiful won 3 Academy Awards: for Best Actor (Roberto Benigni) Best Foreign Language Film and Original Dramatic Score (Nicola Piovani) Despite the core focus of the story being on World War II-era Italy and the Nazi regime, the film relieves much of the sadness and horror of the setting by letting the childlike imagination of director/writer/actor Roberto Benigni loose. The resulting film, while tragic and sad at many points throughout, is lightened by romance, humour, and the triumph of the human spirit over hate, ignorance and oppression. No other movie is so well entrenched into the ugliest side of life and war. As Italy is invaded, all the Italian Jews of the village Guido (Roberto Benengi) lives in with his wife Dora (Nicolleta Braschi) and son Joshua (the incredibly cute Giorgio Cantarini) are captured. Unlike father and son, Dora is not Jewish, so is not wanted by the Germans, but not willing to be separated from her husband and son, she volunteers to be taken with the Jews, even though this means going to the ‘Nazi concentration camps!’ Not wishing his son to know what is really happening (as he is so young) Guido makes out like their capture is really part of a game, one that they are set out to win!!! Guido’s passion for life and that of his son and wife result in him going to great lengths and risks to see they do not suffer from the effects of the war and their imprisionment. While Hollywood blockbusters may cost millions and make millions at the box office, Life is Beautiful is true film making at it’s finest… So good is this film that even the Pope himself lists this as one of the best top ten films ever made!
LAGAAN: Once Upon A Time In India…
Lagaan was nominated for Best Foriegn Film in the 2002 Academy Awards, and has been celebrated as "an enormously entertaining film" by Roger Ebert. The film won a number of national and international awards including seven National Film Awards, nine Filmfare awards, and ten IIFA Awards. Apart from these major awards, it also won awards at other national and international ceremonies… The movie is set in the Victorian period of the British Raj and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by the British. When the peasants attempt to persuade the officers to reduce the taxes, the officers put forth a proposition to the peasants. One senior officer offers to cancel their taxes for three years if their village team beats him at cricket. After accepting his proposition, the villagers face the arduous task of learning the game and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny. The film received critical acclaim and awards at various international film festivals, as well as many Indian film awards. It also became the third Hindi-language film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after Mother India and Salaam Bombay!. It was one of the biggest hits of 2001.
TAARE ZAMEEN PAR
The story is unusual but not unknown. The message that the story tries to convey is already known to us, but most of us just remain ignorant to it. Ishaan Awasthi is an eight year old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colors, fish, dogs and kites are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like homework, marks and neatness. And Ishaan just can't seem to get anything right in class. When he gets into more trouble than his parents can handle, he is packed off to a boarding school to be disciplined. Things are no different at his new school, and Ishaan has to contend with the added trauma of separation from his family. One day a new art teacher bursts onto the scene, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who infects the students with joy and optimism. He breaks all the rules of 'how things are done' by asking them to think, dream and imagine, and all the children respond with enthusiasm, all except Ishaan. Nikumbh soon realizes that Ishaan is very unhappy, and he sets out to discover why. With time, patience and care, he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself. Though it is centered on a dyslexic protagonist, Taare Zameen Par is not a film about dyslexia. Nor is it a film about any disease or disorder. It's a film about parents and children, about the pressures we put on our kids, about how we push them into becoming assembly-line products instead of encouraging them to find their own unique strengths. IT'S ALSO ABOUT FINDING OUR HEROES.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won five: for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing. The general plot of the film, as the title suggests, is a humanitarian rescue mission led by John Miller, a US Army Ranger captain, played by Tom Hanks to return the last surviving Ryan brother from the Normandy front line to his mother. As the position consolidates, Miller is given his new assignment, to find a certain Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who had been parachuted in as a member of the 101st Airborne, which, as the film historically correctly asserts, was scattered widely across Normandy. Ryan is the sole surviving member of four brothers, the other three having been killed in action. The American command takes the decision to bring him back for his mother's sake. Miller conceals his erstwhile profession of schoolteacher and his background from the troops under his command; the uncovering of Miller's background becomes a sub-plot of the film in as much as the men have a monetary pool on his origins, which he steadfastly refuses to reveal. Under intensely difficult circumstances, Miller displays a decisive and courageous manner to his soldiers - his suppressed nervousness is communicated only by his unsteady hands. Eventually, at the expense of two members of their unit, Miller and his men catch up with Ryan. They break the news of his brothers' deaths to him and tell him that he is going home. Ryan is reluctant in the decision but decides not to desert his strategically important post. Miller and his men protect him, and all but two members of the unit are killed in a ferocious German tank assault on the bridge over the Merderet River in the (fictional) village of Ramelle, which they are defending. Ryan survives, but Miller is killed in the assault.
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
The true story of prominent mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. is the subject of this biographical drama from director Ron Howard. This movie is based loosely on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind. Russell Crowe stars as the brilliant but arrogant and conceited professor Nash. The professor seems guaranteed a rosy future in the early '50s after he marries beautiful student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and makes a remarkable advancement in the foundations of "game theory," which carries him to the brink of international acclaim. Soon after, John is visited by Agent William Parcher (Ed Harris), from the CIA, who wants to recruit him for code-breaking activities. But evidence suggests that Nash's perceptions of reality are cloudy at best; he is struggling to maintain his tenuous hold on sanity, and Alicia suspects a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. Battling decades of illness with the loyal Alicia by his side, Nash is ultimately able to gain some control over his mental state, and eventually goes on to triumphantly win the Nobel Prize.
ERIN BROKOVICH
(Won Oscar and another 26 wins & 42 nominations) Erin Brockovich is a 2000 drama film which dramatizes the story of Erin Brockovich's first fight against the American West Coast energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric Company known as PG&E. The film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred Julia Roberts, who won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA for Best Actress. It is based on a true story. In a world where heroes are often in short supply, the story of Erin Brockovich is an inspirational reminder of the power of the human spirit. Her passion, tenacity and steadfast desire to fight for the rights of the underdog defied the odds…her victory made even more sweet by the fact that while helping others, she in turn helped herself. Erin Brockovich is a stirring, funny and unconventional drama based on true events, starring Julia Roberts as the twice-divorced mother of three young children who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy… and wins!
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN
Won 2 Oscars, and another 6 wins & 13 nominations Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) has nothing--the son of an alcoholic, indifferent military father, he's grown up in the Philippines living on top of a brothel. But after college he decides he wants more and, despite his father's mockery, enrolls in the Navy's Officer Candidate School to become a jet pilot. His sergeant, brilliantly played by Louis Gossett Jr., makes his life a living hell from day one, but Zack won't quit. The candidates are warned to stay away from the local girls looking for naval husbands, but Zack and his bunkmate, Sid (David Keith), find themselves falling for two friends, Paula (Debra Winger) and Lynette (Lisa Blount), who work at the local paper mill. Zack fights his feelings for Paula, determined to let nothing sway him from his goals. The training is difficult but not as tough as having to deal with their training officer, Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley who teaches Zack a lesson in the importance of relying on your friends and colleagues.
THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
A pure old-school martial arts movie. The often-imitated fact-based plot centers upon the rigorous training process undergone in the mid-19th century by the anti-Manchu Chinese patriot San Te (Gordon Liu). It's depicted as a grueling voyage into the unknown. Cast out of his home village when he stands up to the cruel warlord (Lo Lieh) who slaughtered his parents, the refugee seeks out the martial monks of the Shaolin Temple, who steer him through a torturous series of "chambers"--horrendous ordeals designed to build strength and agility--before he's even allowed to study boxing or swordfighting. Finally he defeats a rival by inventing a brand-new weapon, the three-section chainlinked staff. But innovation can be carried only so far; when San Te suggests opening a "36th chamber" in the temple that would teach Shaolin techniques to the populace at large (so that they can fight the nasty Manchus) he is drummed out of the corps. He then returns to his home village, slaughters the baddies, and prepares to open China's first public Shaolinstyle kung fu school. Many of the pupils San Te recruits in the final reel became legendary martial artists in their own right, the "Fathers of the Church" of the Chinese kung fu tradition. This is strong action entertainment with real historical resonance.
TO SIR, WITH LOVE
An engineer by trade, Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier), a black man, gets a teaching post until he can find an engineering job. His posting is to teach the senior class at North Quay Secondary School in East London, a school in a tough neighborhood where the most troublesome of students are sent. The school is in a primarily white neighborhood where there is a strict moral code amongst the residents of race relations between whites and blacks. Encouraged by his female colleagues but given a sense of resignation by his male colleagues, Thackeray is having trouble with his class, who are openly disruptive. He is having issues with two students in particular, Denham and Miss Dare, issues which he will have to resolve carefully. After an incident which he considers the last straw, he comes to the realization of what his class really does need to learn. “So long as we learn, it doesn’t matter who teaches us, does it?”
THE INDEPENDENCE DAY
Won Oscar and another 26 wins & 21 nominations Strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that a force of incredible magnitude has arrived; its mission: total annihilation over the Fourth of July weekend. The last hope to stop the destruction is an unlikely group of people united by fate and unimaginable circumstances.
IQBAL
The movie is about a young lad (Shreyas Talpade), who has a single most aspiration of becoming a cricketer and play for India. The movie is not about cricket. It’s about goals, coaching, choice, trials, tears, joy and a complete plethora of wonderful human emotions skillfully weaved. When you set lofty goals and standards, rejection and ridicule are common responses. The father, the district coach, fellow players, closed ones etc. are all closed to this wonderful fact that being exceptional is reality. The protagonist struggles in every step and fumbles too. Being a speech and hearing impaired, he has more problems to face. As it’s a common belief that in any field the ability to communicate effectively is a critical success factor. All odds stacked against our hero: his profile, personality, potential and all-round perceptions were all indicated, amplified to him to fail for sure. Nevertheless, this lad doesn’t give up. He displays will and keeps up the discipline to hold on to his talent and importantly, hope. He lives his thoughts and walks his talks in silence for obvious reasons. He doesn’t give up… AT ALL! “If you can see your goal, feel it and have the right determination. You will surely find a way to achieve it.”
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Inspired by the true story of Christopher Paul Gardner, a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and philanthropist who, during the early 1980s, struggled with homelessness while raising his toddler son. In The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a family man struggling to make ends meet. Despite his valiant attempts to help keep the family afloat, the mother (Thandie Newton) of his five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) is buckling under the constant strain of financial pressure. No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave. Chris, now a single father, continues doggedly to pursue a better-paying job using every sales skill he knows. He lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, and although there is no salary, he accepts, hopeful he will end the program with a job and a promising future. Without a financial cushion, Chris and his son are soon evicted from their apartment and forced to sleep in shelters, bus stations, bathrooms, or wherever they can find refuge for the night. Despite his troubles, Chris continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.
GLADIATOR
The movie is quite daring in its own way: it is a spectacle set in Ancient Rome in 180 AD, a time when humans (being the inane creatures they are) more openly compensated for their inadequacies by watching other humans kill each other brutally. A time when tyrant emperors ruled and few would dare challenge them. The film is about one such person, Maximus, a General from Spain who fought and bled for Rome with much passion but is now a slave as a reward for his patriotism. Russell Crowe plays Maximus, a Roman general who leads the troops in conquering Germania for the empire. When an aging Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) tells Maximus that he'd like him to rule Rome once he's gone, a classic confrontation ensues between the brave and charming soldier--who wants to return home to his wife, son, and farm--and the jealous and conniving Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the emperor's only son, who is thirsty for power. Bought as a slave by the profiteering Proximo (Oliver Reed, in his last role), Maximus must kill or be killed in the ring, battling to save not only himself but the future of the very empire that he loves and honors. The film features a terrific battle sequence, huge crowd scenes of thousands of people, and even a little romance. The impeccably choreographed gladiator scenes are violent yet thrilling, flashing by like lightning. GLADIATOR is a glorious spectacle filled with heart and soul.
ROCKY II
With the family resources dwindling and his pride wounded, Rocky decides that fighting is all he knows and makes the fateful decision to climb back into the ring once more with Creed to vie for the championship belt, despite assurances from all concerned that he will blind himself irreparably! It's the rematch of the century as Rocky Balboa takes on Apollo Creed in this powerful follow-up to one of the most acclaimed movies in film history. Writer-director-star Sylvester Stallone succeeds in creating a powerful feel-good movie hailed as "a stunning effort in every way" (New York Post). After club fighter Rocky Balboa (Stallone) goes the distance with the world heavy weight champion, boxing fans clamor for a rematch. But Rocky, having sustained massive injuries in the bout, announces his retirement. Though he tries to make a new life for himself, Rocky realizes that he can't escape his true calling. The ring beckons once more, and the "Italian Stallion" must prepare for the fight of his life.
KUNG FU PANDA
Po the Panda is a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant. Po is a kung fu fanatic but his shape doesn't exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting. In fact, Po's defining characteristic appears to be that he is the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. That's a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophecy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day. A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it's too late. Po too puts his heart-and his girth-into the task, and the unlikely hero ultimately finds that his greatest weaknesses turn out to be his greatest strengths.
RANG DE BASANTI
Successfully weaving historical facts with contemporary themes and characters Rang De Basanti has an absorbing plot, which flits smoothly from past to present. The strong performances from the ensemble cast that impress foremost, all of whom are totally convincing as disillusioned youngsters learning the importance of personal sacrifice. Accomplished and universally appealing, this movie will strike a chord in every patriot’s heart. Sue (Alice Patten), a British Indo-phile, auditions actors to film a documentary based on her grandfather´s memoirs as a general during the colonial era. Her hunt for actors to play Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Ashfaqulla Khan, Ram Prasad Bismil, Durga Bhabhi and Chandrashekhar Azad yields a barrage of clowns from Delhi University. She strikes an instant rapport with a special group of carefree students, enlisting them to act in her film. Karan (Siddharth), Sukhi (Sharman Joshi), Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni), Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) and DJ (Aamir Khan) become Sue´s freedom fighters. Sue´s project sparks a sharp debate among her actors, some of whom dismiss nationalistic passion, arguing that in today´s day and age, India is simply not worth that kind of dedication. As Sue´s friends delve deeper into her project, a chaotic and tragic turn of events lead them to realize that their present life has started mirroring the lives of the characters they play!
CHARIOTS OF FIRE
Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture! The inspiring true story follows the rivalry between two British long-distance athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) is a devout Christian who sees victory as a testament to the glory of God, while the other, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), is a Jewish Cambridge student who sees victory as a challenge to anti-Semitism and his ongoing struggle for acceptance by Britain's elite. Eric, a hometown Scottish hero to the people, gives rousing sermons after victory and works at a local missionary. Harold runs with a zealous commitment, upsetting Cambridge's educational upper crust (played with enjoyable wit and candor by Sir John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson) while enjoying social life with his university chums and his beautiful showgirl girlfriend (Alice Krige). But when faced with such a competent challenger, Harold hires trainer Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm) to further his dreams of winning the gold. Ultimately, the two runners meet in Paris to run for British victory in a rousing finale. Featuring an unforgettable soundtrack by Vangelis, this Academy Award-winning film is an inspirational story of athletic excellence and spiritual awakening that captures the zeal of post-WWI Britain and the glory of the Olympics.
THE MATRIX
The film takes us to the year 2199! The world has been taken over by the Matrix, and is now being run by an artificial intelligence. Humans are living in a computer-generated dreamworld. Humans are being harvested like plants to be part of the Matrix. Humans live their lives in an artificial reality never realizing that they are slaves of an evil system that has a false claim on the world. A few rebel humans discover the horror of the Matrix. They believe that computer programmer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), who by night is a computer hacker nick named Neo, is "the one," who according to prophecy, will save the world from cyber-slavery. The Matrix uses many interesting concepts borrowed from Plato, ancient Chinese tales, Buddhism and so on. It also has overwhelmingly cool martial arts, magnetic protagonists and spell binding special effects. The more obvious influence on this film could be attributed less to ancient philosophers and more to some contemporary elements of world's popular culture.
AIR FORCE ONE
When President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) goes off of the regular script at an international dinner and announces that the United States will not bargain with terrorists in any fashion, he has no idea that his challenge will soon be put to the test. On his way home from Russia, after his remarkable pronouncement, Air Force One is hijacked by terrorists. They are determined to win the freedom of a military leader who murdered thousands of people in his bid for power. The secret service agents on the plane sacrificed themselves to get the President into the escape pod in the belly of the plane, leaving the President's closest advisors, as well as his wife and daughter, at the mercy of the terrorists… Vice President Kathryn Bennett (Glenn Close) immediately tries to negotiate with the terrorists to get the hostages off the plane alive while the military follows the beacon to the president's escape pod. Everything changes when the escape pod is found – empty! President James Marshall never left the plane and he is determined to make the terrorists pay. However, the terrorists quickly notice that their numbers are dwindling and assume that there is a secret service agent loose on the plane. They begin killing hostages in the hopes that they will find one that matters enough to the unknown man for him to give himself up. With the clock ticking and increasing numbers of hostages being murdered, President Marshall soon finds that he is forced into negotiating with the terrorists and arranging for the release of General Radek from prison. But that doesn't mean that he is beaten as he uses every trick in the book to get the terrorists off his plane...
A WEDNESDAY
A Wednesday tells the story of certain events that unfold between 2 and 6 p.m. on a Wednesday in Mumbai. Events that do not exist in any record… From the outset this movie initiates as a basic edge-of-the-seat action-thriller where an anonymous individual (Naseeruddin Shah) makes a call to the Commissioner of Police Rathod (Anupam Kher) and warns him of six bombs being planted in the city of Mumbai. He threatens of detonating them if his demand isn't met, which is emancipation of four hardcore anti-national terrorists. The caller is extremely insightful in his operation and always a step ahead of the equipped and efficient police force. The film progresses as a one-upmanship race between the two, detailing the intricacies in the techniques of the trade. A Wednesday is not in those conventional potboiler categories where a hero goes fighting singlehandedly against the villains or munificent cinematic liberties are attempted to accomplish an assignment. The minute specification incorporated in the script adds conviction to the trade-off that sets the film a class apart.
LAGE RAHO MUNNA BHAI
What happens when the 'Present' meets the 'Past'? What happens when our very own "Professor of History" encounters a 'Figure from History'? In order to meet and impress radio hostess, Jhanvi (Vidya Balan), Murliprasad alias Munna Bhai (Sanjay Dutt), dreaded underworld Don of Bombay, dons the guise of a Gandhian Professor, wins a contest, appears on the radio, has a date with Jhanvi. He also gets to meet Jhanvi's family, consisting of six elderly gentlemen who live at a palatial house called '2nd Innings', and wins a place in her heart. While Murli, Jhanvi, and the residents go on a trip to Goa, '2nd Innings' is taken over by Lakhbir Singh. An enraged Murli is all set to confront Lucky and seize the house back, but decides to do it the Gandhian way - by launching a peaceful Satyagraha in front of Lucky's house in a bid to get him to change his mind. The Satyagraha and a bit of negative radio publicity Lucky does change his mind, organizes a press conference, gets Murli to admit that he has been talking with none other than Mohandas K. Gandhi himself - and as a result makes him look insane and lose all credibility. To make matters worse, Jhanvi finds out the truth about Murli. Watch what Murli and his side-kick, Sarkeshwar alias Circuit (Arshad Warsi), do to get him back in Jhanvi's good books as well as teach the egoistic Lucky some truly Gandhian lessons.
CHAK DE INDIA
One man mentoring a hockey team of young and feisty girls. Their determination, ambition and skills are put to test in an ultimate contest with the world's top teams. For the girls it is a chance to make their nation proud. For their coach it is a chance to reclaim his lost future. 'Chak De India' is the story of a coach's fight to make his team, Team India, the best in the world. It is a film about self-belief, perseverance, determination and the human spirit to fight and win. Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) knows what it's like to come back from the dead. The ex Indian Captain has now come back in the avatar of the Coach of the Indian Women's National Hockey team. A team that exists more on paper and less in reality. The team is a rag-tag bunch of girls with their own agenda. A bunch of girls who have forgotten what it is like to play for the love of the game. Playing because you want glory for your country, not because you want a pensioned job or a government flat. They have all forgotten the sharp thrill of just holding the hockey stick, keeping their eyes on the ball and playing for all they are worth. They have played every game of hockey to make sure they get selected every year in the Indian National team. But what does it really mean to play for the Indian National team? To play for India? The girls have never known the thrilling energy of being Team India. Of giving their all to see their country's name on a trophy. But Kabir Khan, once a captain, now forgotten, does. Kabir Khan knows what it takes to get there. And what it means to return empty handed. This time, he wants to make sure that it's different. He knows there are no second chances.