6. As a player who misses the crucial penalty shot, as a coach who puts together a team fragmented by regional identity, as a visionary who transforms a mediocre team to a team that can defeat the best in the world and as a motivator who pulls the team when the odds are down, Shah Rukh captivates the audience with a performance that has no precedent. Swades comes close, but this performance of Shah Rukh is easily one of his best, if not the best. The movie is so heavily dependant on his role and his stellar performance is a critical clincher for the success of the movie. Shah Rukh exceeded my expectations way ahead and I doubt if he can ever recreate this performance like this one in another movie
7. The team wins the heart of the audience not only with their performance in the matches, but also in the step by step progress from a bunch of disjointed, selfish and individuals without a common purpose to a word class team. Team dynamics like Interpersonal rivalries, regional affiliations, seniors who block the way of talented newcomers, the rural-urban gap, have all been presented in a simple, realistic manner. So is the portrayal of the unwarranted hype for cricket and the second rung treatment meted out to women teams.
8. The matches have been kept short enough to hold interest and long enough to understand the nuances of the game. The subtle presentation of the differences in the practice and accomodation facilities between India and a nation like Australia reveals the depth of understanding of the subject by the director.
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