On August 2, the Indian women’s hockey team created history as they qualified for the semi-finals at the Olympics for the first time. Shilpa Shukla, who played a pivotal part in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India (2007), says that watching the girls achieving this feat was “a surreal and magical moment”.

“This was history in the making. Savita Punia was phenomenal. I saw the initial matches and I was a little doubtful but when I saw them performing at the quarter-finals, I saw how confident they were,” she says.

Following the win of the Rani Rampal-led team, the title track of Chak De! India began reverberating at the Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo. “I’m so glad that we’re alive to see the historic moment. After these tough times, this was the kind of motivation and boost we needed. It was heart-wrenching to see the struggles faced by the team and the way they overcame them,” shares Shukla.

The actor believes that the success of the women’s hockey team will push Indian parents to support their daughters who dream of making a career in sports: “Parents will encourage their girls to play every sport now. They should reconsider their deep conditioning that children should only do well in academics. Sport is very much a part of our lives and it should be embraced.”

Women sportspersons have been stealing the limelight at the Olympics and Shukla believes that it will surely inspire many more. “Women need encouragement. Not just in one specific field, but women all over the world are slowly and steadily winning in all aspects of life. It is something that we need to recognise and appreciate,” she ends.