Chak De! India not only proved to be a landmark movie in the career of superstar Shah Rukh Khan but it also brought the 16 actors featured in the movie as women hockey players to the limelight. The actors were collectively branded as the Chak De! Gang of Girls. `Chak De!' was found to be the buzzword for motivating players across all sporting domains. The title song of the movie Chak De! India has become the new sporting anthem for the Indians. Thus, most advertising professionals feel that such engaging films constitute a cost-effective and influential medium for advertising. Chak De is a best example of `In-film' product placement.

Chak De! India, a movie made under the Yash Raj Films banner starring Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, and directed by Shimit Amin was released in India on August 10, 2007. The movie was broadly based on the life of former goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team, Mir Ranjan Negi who fell from grace after conceding seven goals to Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games final after which he was dropped from the squad. Negi re-emerged as the goalkeeping coach for the women's hockey team in 2002 that went on to win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. The tale of the celluloid character, Kabir Khan, played by Shahrukh Khan in the movie Chak De! India resembled that of Negi's as Kabir was found to face similar trials and tribulations as were faced by Negi. The movie was found to make a sincere attempt in creating an awareness and interest around one of the much neglected Indian sport, hockey, especially women's hockey.

The movie was found to reflect on various societal issues and attitudes concerning sports in India, the media's influence on the general sentiments of people towards sports personalities, the step-motherly treatment offered by the government to various sports in India other than cricket and also the condemnable discrimination based on gender, region and ethnicity in sports. Apart from being declared a blockbuster at the Indian box office, the film triggered tremendous interest in hockey among the Indians. `Chak De! Effect' soon became an often used jargon among the masses.

But then, there were many who believed that it was just a temporary phenomenon and nothing significantly positive would happen as far as the future prospects of hockey in India were concerned. However, Adam Wallish, a board member of Hockey Australia felt, "The film will give a much-needed boost to Indian hockey, given the fact that it is going through one of its darkest phases." He further opined, "During the shooting, I realized that hockey may not be of any great interest for Indians but Shahrukh is! We hope hockey gets back its fame via the superstar."

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