Chak De! controversy

Veteran film actor Annu Kapoor recently stirred up a controversy after his comments on Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De! India went viral.

Kapoor specifically pointed to the popular film Chak De! India said that Shah Rukh Khan’s character, Kabir Khan, was originally based on the coach Mir Ranjan Negi. He claimed that the filmmakers deliberately changed the character to a Muslim.

“The main character in Chak De! India is based on a famous coach, Negi Saab. But in India, they want to show a Muslim as a good character and make fun of a Pandit (Hindu priest). This is something old, where they use the idea of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb (Hindu-Muslim unity) to put a label on it,” Kapoor said.

Chak De! India is a 2007 Bollywood sports drama film, where Shah Rukh Khan character Kabir, a former Indian men’s hockey player, is accused of betraying his country after losing an important match against Pakistan. To redeem his reputation, he becomes the coach of the Indian women’s hockey team.