Salman Khan was initially signed for the lead role. He later withdrew due to creative differences with the director
A brief article about the victorious women's team at the 2002 Commonwealth Games inspired screenwriter Jaideep Sahni to create a film about the Indian women's hockey team.
'I though why the girls’ team got so little coverage always. I shared the idea with Aditya Chopra. He asked me to stop everything else and concentrate on developing this logline,' Sahni had said.
Jaideep Sahni modeled Kabir Khan on Indian hockey coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, who was a member of the team when it won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
After listening to the storyline Kaushik suggested that Jaideep Sahni meet hockey player Mir Ranjan Negi, who faced accusations of throwing the match against Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games.
SRK stated in a speech at the University of Edinburgh that the phrase 'Chak De!' was originally an inspirational martial cry that Sikh soldiers used while lifting logs to make bridges across rivers.
According to Sahni, he was unaware of Mir Ranjan Negi's plight while he wrote the script and any resemblance to Negi's life was coincidental.
Negi also said that he did not want to hog the limelight. 'This movie is not a documentary of my life. It is in fact the story of a team that becomes a winning lot from a bunch of demoralized girls.'
Shah Rukh Khan originally declined the role of Kabir Khan due to a scheduling conflict with Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
SRK accepted the role partly because he used to play hockey in college
It was said to be a real risky move by SRK since the film departed from his usual romantic image and included neither lip synched songs nor a single female lead.
Casting of the 16 actresses as the hockey players took over six months. Dir Amin described the process as 'very difficult' and 'very strenuous because the requirement was they had to play – and act'.
A four-month training camp was held where the girls learned the rules of the game, took acting lessons and followed a strict diet; safety precautions were also taken.
'Learning hockey is very tricky. You have to know how to hold the stick, how to manoeuvre it, so it doesn't look fake on screen,' director Amin had said.
The actors, including SRK and the rest of the supporting cast, participated in a number of rehearsals and script readings before principal photography began.
Mir Ranjan Negi assembled a team of hockey players to train the actors. ' We trained the girls for six months. Waking up at 4, we would retire around 11 in the night. It was tiring,' he had said.
The girls were asked not to trim their nails or eyebrows to resemble real hockey players.
Actors like Chitrashi, Sandia, and Raynia, were cast mainly because they were good hockey players.
Rob Miller, who later worked in films like Bhaag Milka Bhaag and Mary Kom, was the sport action director, who choreographed the sports scenes. He had also worked with Negi to train the actors.
Mir Ranjan Negi had recalled that everything was pre-planned 'including the penalty stroke that SRK missed. That shot alone took us nearly 20 hours as I was keen that it should be very realistic.'
Amin wanted to show a full stadium cheering for the team in the final match sequence, which was shot in Sydney, Australia. SRK requested the team to use his popularity to get people to the stadium.
The team advertised that SRK is going to be in Sydney at the Olympic Hockey Stadium. As expected, people came in large numbers. The stadium was in fact overflowing.
Amin, who was to shoot at the location for five nights, feared that such a large number of people might not come in everyday. But the crowd gathered for all five nights.
A hockey match lasts for two hours, but the unit was shooting for eight hours. Yet, the ‘spectators’ remained and SRK came on the ground several times to keep them engaged.
Freida Pinto had auditioned for a role in the film but she didn’t make it to the final list of the star cast.
When Sahni and Aditya Chopra were figuring out who should direct the film, Aditya remembered Shimit Amin, and said that the best guy would be the one who made Ab Tak Chhappan. Sahni agreed at once.
Aditya Chopra’s only demand from Amin was that he wanted a song in the film that becomes the sports anthem. He reasoned that India has a national anthem, but it doesn't have a sports anthem.
Aditya Chopra’s dream got ultimately fulfilled as whenever India wins in any sport or any tournament, the title song of Chak De India is mandatorily played.
Masochon Zimik, who played the Manipuri player Molly Zimik, never acted in any film after Chak De India. She moved back to her native place in Manipur. She now works for an NGO for the youth.
Similarly, Sandia Furtado, who essayed the role of Nethra Reddy, became a PR professional. She married London-based Matteo Busa in December 2016.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences requested a copy of the film's script for a place in its Margaret Herrick Library.
