Mumbai, August 11 (IANS) Actress Vidya Malvade, who essayed the role of Vidya Sharma, the captain of the women’s hockey team in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Chak De! India’, revealed that the film’s dramatic climax of the hockey match was shot over 15 nights.
In a video posted on her social media account, Vidya looked back at the making of the 2007 film as it completed 19 years and expressed gratitude towards fans for the outpouring of love.
“So, it’s been 19 years since Chak De India. And it’s like a blessing that never stops giving. And this is your love. Thank you so so so much for loving us so much. So much love, that you’ve been giving us for 19 years, I’m so thankful for that,” she said.
Vidya said she finds it heartwarming that audiences continue to remember her character even after nearly two decades.
“I always say, it’s my parents’ blessings, their blessings, and I don’t know, a little bit of hard work, and this is what, nowadays, when people don’t remember the names of the movies that have come out, you guys still remember and call me Vidya Sharma India. And I think that’s, it’s really heartwarming,” she said.
Recalling the early days of the film’s shoot, the actress said the team had no idea that ‘Chak De! India’ would eventually become so memorable.
“Our group of girls, my entire team, we’ve all been wishing each other, and hoping that we’d be together. You know, when we started shooting for Chak De, we had obviously no idea that it would become what it has become. But for us, we were just playing,” she recalled.
She revealed that the actresses underwent extensive hockey training and spent an entire year practising before and during the shoot.
“We were taught set plays. That’s all we were doing. We were learning it, and we didn’t know where the cameras were kept, we didn’t know literally nothing. We were just doing our set plays, and then when they would say cut, they’d say, okay, we’ve got this take, let’s move on, and we’d move on and do the next set play. That is what we were doing throughout,” she said.
“But, it took us one year. One year of practising hockey, and out of that, there was a six-month shoot. And whichever day, the day we weren’t shooting, any one of us not shooting, we would be on the field playing, learning our set plays,” Vidya added.
“So it never really occurred to us that in the future, you guys would remember this for the next 19 years,” she said.
Vidya also recalled shooting the film’s climactic hockey match, revealing that the team spent six weeks in Australia and shot the finale for 15 nights.
“Yeah, 6 weeks in Australia. 15 nights of shooting the final match. All the lovely women who joined us. Australian team, the Korean team, rest of the teams are from Australia. And yeah, 16 girls. That bond is still there. It’s our group,” she said.
Looking back at her role, Vidya said she felt fortunate to have played the captain of the team.
“I think I got really lucky that I could play the captain of the team. I got really lucky that I could play Vidya Sharma India!” she said.
The actress also revealed a heartbreaking incident that got her to lose all the memories of the shooting tenure.
“I had around 12,000 photos at that time when Chak De was going to be released. The one year we were together. But I don’t even have one of those now because Apple laptop crashed and all my photos have gone. So now, I have nothing from the time when we were shooting,” she said.
She added, “But I just have tonnes and tonnes of memories. Literally, every place, everywhere. Yeah, 6 weeks in Australia. 15 nights of shooting the final match.”
The actress also spoke about the bond shared by the 16 girls who played members of the hockey team, and revealed that they continue to stay connected through a WhatsApp group.
“Like I said, we have been on WhatsApp group with each other. Going a little crazy and thinking we should be together. I miss my girls right now,” she said.
Directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra, ‘Chak De! India’ released in 2007 and starred Shah Rukh Khan as coach Kabir Khan.
–IANS
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