who fares better as a hockey coach?

Akshay Kumar in Gold or Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De! India - who fares better as a hockey coach?

The teaser of Reema Kagti’s period drama Gold dropped on Monday and got everyone talking about Akshay Kumar’s hockey coach avatar. Also Read: Did you spot Mouni Roy in the Gold teaser? We did after a few rewatches

Predictably, comparisons were drawn between Akshay and Shah Rukh Khan, who played a similar character in Shimit Amin’s 2007 film, Chak De! India.

The archetype of a disgruntled player-turned-coach is a common staple of sports films. In Chak De, SRK’s Kabir Khan is a former hockey captain wrongly suspected of ‘throwing a game’ in favour of Pakistan. Years later, when the same man is tasked with training the Indian women’s field-hockey team, the dramatic tension plays out on two-levels: for Kabir, winning the Women’s World Cup is not only a professional challenge but a personal one. His conquests as coach become his only redemption as a player, and restore his lost honour before a Nation that had wronged him.

For Akshay, the stakes are even higher. Freshly discharged from imperial servitude, India stands at a testing juncture in 1948. While repercussions of the Partition continue to threaten our domestic stability, our players at the London Summer Olympics face a war of their own. The Indian Hockey Team had already own three Golds at prior Olympics, but none to their Independent credit. If they win, India’s reputation as an emerging global identity will be solidified forever. But even beyond that, the achievement will also send out a befitting reply to the British Empire, besides providing ample inspiration to the dire cause of nation-building.

As evident from the teaser, Akshay understands the thematic weight of Gold very well, and thus carefully balances the determination of a patriot with the personal eccentricities of his character. While SRK’s Kabir Khan was unrelenting and clinical, Akshay plays his part with a candid vulnerability. In this regard, even the obscure Bengali accent and the period-cut moustache add to his ‘nationalistic’ charm, although they do betray any hint of authenticity.

Moreover, unlike Chak De, we see very little interaction between Akshay and his team. Something tells us that Gold will focus more on the climactic tournament than the slow machinations of team-building or bureaucratic sluggishness in sports politics—aspects that Chak De! India devoted ample time exploring. It remains to be seen how well Akshay fleshes out the conflicts of his character, although no mainstream actor can be better trusted with space. (To note, he played a very contrasting role as a British cricketer of Indian origin in Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House and also produced the Canadian ice-hockey film Speedy Singhs, but never has he explored the ‘patriotic sports film’ genre with such excess and scale.)

Given his recent success streak, it will be interesting to see what route Akshay takes in Gold—whether he borrows from SRK’s restrained doggedness or plays directly to the gallery as a one-dimensional flag-waver.

Either way, Gold promises to be an engaging potboiler with sweeping production design and some thrilling hockey.

Let’s see if the Khiladi can score once again.