Mir Ranjan Negi

The best introduction that can be given to this hockey coach is that he is the man who inspired the super hit Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De India.

Negi’s life has been peppered with pitfalls. He was blamed for the 7-1 defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the 1982 Asian Games. Though he came back as a goalkeeping coach and helped India win the 1998 Asian Games gold at Bangkok, the federation sacked him. Then two years after he led the girls’ team to a gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he lost his son in a road accident.

When things seemed to have hit rock bottom, something happened to change Negi’s life—a story was born out of his struggle. He had not been interested when the idea was first sounded to him. But after he went to the studio at the request of writer Jaideep Sahni and read the script, he was hooked. Producer Aditya Chopra convinced Negi that he was the man best suited to guide the filmmakers. He trained with the girls for six months and transformed them into the believable players they were in the movie.

Now this 51-year-old has taken on another challenge. "When they asked me to come on this show [Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa], I was surprised. In fact, one of the Chak De girls told me that it would be difficult for me to dance,” says Negi. “But then I said I would try and win the hearts of audience."

Marischa Fernandes is his choreographer partner.