This film is almost entirely in its exquisitely mainstream yet intelligent piece of screenwriting (Jaideep Sahni). It's then about inspired pieces of casting (and acting thereby).
Sixteen carefully selected but relatively raw players from different parts of the nation make up the Indian women's hockey team. They're the sorts, the administrators munching biscuits in their boardroom believe, should rather play the 'belan' in the kitchen.
As region-specific selections go with Indian sports, members of the team come from everywhere: the tribal belt of Jharkhand, to the untouched hills of the North-East, to the richly chic environs of small and big cities. Nothing unites them but the colour of their sports jerseys. Put together on paper, they are unlikely to match skill and speed with a European school squad. On the practice field, they appear a bunch of uncontrollably nutter hooligans.
The team also shares a coach that pretty much no one can stand (Khan). The coach has an immediate task at hand, the World Championship. He also has a wider point to prove.
Shah rukh hits a goal!
