We are overwhelmed as the women’s hockey team made it to their first-ever Olympic semi-final. It is no surprise that looking at and reading about the man of the moment -coach Sjoerd Marijne- we are reminded of coach Kabir Khan from the 2007 film Chak De! India, played by Shah Rukh Khan.
Read More: Indian Women’s Hockey Team Qualifies For First-Ever Olympic Semifinals
Directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Aditya Chopra, with a screenplay written by Jaideep Sahni, the story traces the many difficulties that coach Kabir Khan overcomes while training a group of women hockey players for the World Cup. Soon after the film was released, Kabir Khan became a hero for the audience and the connoisseur of all eyes. People idolised him as a rigorous and determined but at the same time a very caring and understanding coach.
With the recent developments in the Olympics, India, led by Rani Rampal, beat Australia 1-0 in a victory that gives us major Chak De feels.
On Twitter, Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne posted a picture of himself with the women’s hockey team, writing to his family: “Sorry family, I coming again later.”
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan soon posted a hilarious response, saying, “Haan haan no problem. Just bring some gold on our way back… for a billion family members.” Khan then signed his tweet as “From: ex-coach Kabir Khan”.
This Twitter thread has taken the internet by storm and melted a million hearts.
To Shah Rukh Khan, Marijne tweeted back, “Thank you for all the support and love. We will give everything again. From: The Real Coach.”
India’s hockey win has uncanny resemblances to Chak De! India in several ways. Gurjit Kaur converted a penalty corner which gave India its winning goal at the Tokyo Olympics, with the team edging into the semi-finals.
A number of the actresses who played the roles of the women who made up the hockey team in the film shared posts on social media after India made it to the semi-finals.
“The Indian women’s hockey team created history today by entering the olympics semi finals for the first time – congratulations to the whole team and more power to our women,” Sagarika Ghatge wrote.
“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since morning & I was just a part of the reel,” wrote Vidya Malavade.
“It is a déjà vu moment for us ..not so long ago we had the privilege to experience the feeling of winning for our country in #chakdeindia,” wrote Chitrashi.
“…almost 14 years back on 10 of August Chak de India was released. It was made with unimaginable love & no words can explain that . Not for fame but to bring back the lost glory,” Shilpa Shukla wrote.
In the semi-final match, Rean Rampal and team will play Argentina
