Review: 'Rab Ne Bana Di Chak De'

Dil Bole Hadippa
Director: Anurag Singh
Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Shahid Kapur, Anupam Kher, Rani Mukherjee again, and others
Rating: *1/2

If you’ve seen the promos of Dil Bole Hadippa, you pretty much know what the film is about. When you actually see the film, you feel like you’ve already watched it before, in a number of other films most of which are by the same banner.

After a hit this year in New York, Yash Raj Films is back in the hara bhara fields. The lingo’s Punjabi, the attitude chak de phatte types and the songs high on testosterone. In between all this is Veera, left ‘te’ right hand batsman, performed a little too enthusiastically by Rani Mukherjee. Having lost oodles of weight, Rani looks stunning as the village belle, but goes a tad overboard in her portrayal of a girl who dreams of representing the Indian cricket team. 

The opportunity arrives in the form of Rohan, a vilayat-returned puttar, who plays county cricket in UK, but has an American accent. He’s come to The Punjab to form a team, in the dictionary of which the word defeat doesn’t exist. Why, you say? Because daddy dearest (Anupam Kher) has a dream that his Indian boys defeat their Pakistani counterparts in a tournament he started with his friend from across the border (Dalip Tahil, going ‘Laale’ every now and then, annoyingly). 

Now this is an interesting bunch. They play a tournament called Aman Cup (how subtle) and for some reason meet at the border before every match. From there they proceed to either Lahore or Punjab, wherever the tournament is scheduled that particular year. Daddy dearest has been facing defeat eight years in a row and needs beta all rounder to win him the cup for him this time. 

Veera wants to get into the team, but it’s a ‘boys’ tournament. So you know what she does, don’t you? She dresses up as a sardar, Veer, and lands up at the auditions, getting selected eventually. This is where the film gets into Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi-meets-She’s The Man mode. What follows is confusion, some forced comedy, a few item songs and a finale that seems like a poor cousin of the Chak De climax. Also thrown in is a speech about how “women can compete with the best.” 

Director Anurag Singh hardly gives an indication of his ability to direct in a film that’s anything but original. Shahid Kapur, riding on the Kaminey wave, is endearing. From the serious-faced mentor of the team to flirtatiously wooing Veera, he does well. 

But like the other release this week, this one too rests largely on the performance of its lead character, Rani Mukherjee in this case. Although she gets Veer just right, and is alright in her ‘Babli’ encore as Veera, she can’t quite make Dil Bole Hadippa worthy of a Rs250 trip to the theatre.