Movies and sport compete each other in India for the popularity. The length and breadth of the country unites when it comes to the talk of the movies and sports, especially cricket. But this similarity has seldom been translated in cooperation. The history of the Indian cinema is bereft of any great sport movie till now and what has been showcased now is a relatively new work, which is a product of mainly changed attitude of new crop of filmmakers.The dearth of good sport movies from Bollywood stable is especially appalling when one looks at the Hollywood which churns out excellent sport movies time and again. Compared to Hollywood, Bollywood’s attempts have been too few in this direction. Neither the audience here has shown any taste for this genre of cinema nor the makers have shown any inclination to cultivate the same. The result is here for all to see, rather not to see.
There were some sports movies in India in the past. ‘Awwal Number’, ‘Boxer’, ‘Ashwini’, ‘Hip Hip Hurray’ etc. were the movies which attempted to showcase sports based subjects in the movie format. But it was only in the last five years or so that the trend has really got steam and the wagon is running in full vigor. ‘Bend it like Beckham’, though coming from Briton based filmmaker Gurinder Chadda, was a runaway hit and talk of the tinsel town some five years ago. That set the coin rolling and thereafter ‘Lagaan,’ ‘Chak de India’ etc have made their entry here.
The question here is : Is this trend here to stay or die away before we even notice it?
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Some Important Sports Movies
Hip Hip Hurray (1983)Director : Prakash Jha
This film is about a Computer Engineer who happens to be a sport lover and soccer coach in a school in Ranchi. While carrying out his job duties, the hurdles and resistance he faces as well as his determination and the final victory of his soccer team forms the narrative of the movie. An excellent movie as a whole in its category.
Boxer (1984)
Director : Raj N. Sippy
This flick inspired by the then stupendous success of Rocky starring Sylvester Stallone was more a run-of –the-mill Bollywood film rather than a Boxing feature. But it helped Mithun Chakaborty to establish in Bollywood as a hero.
Ashwini (1992)
Director : Chandramauli
This movie based on the real life story of ace athlete Ashwini Nachappa was a unique experiment in its genre. What was more noteworthy was that the main role of the athlete was enacted by Ashwini herself. The sad part of it was that though the film appeared well, it received a meager response at the box office.
Awwal Number (1990)
Director : Dev Anand
The evergreen and irrepressible Dev Anand came up with this novel film. The disheartening part was the half-hearted treatment given to the portrayal of the subject. The film had dwelt on many subjects related to Cricket. Alas, but that dwelling was too superficial. This movie starring Dev Anand, Amir Khan and Aditya Pancholi could not even register its presence at theatres, let alone making any news.
Lagaan (2001)
Director : Ashutosh Gowarikar
This was the film that heralded the new crop of sports movies adoring today’s silver screens. It has cleverly blended patriotism, history and the cricket frenzy of Indians to give a superb celluloid venture. Making its presence felt at the last stage of Oscar race has also helped it to an extent to be a memorable movie.
Iqbal (2003)
Director : Nagesh Kukoor
This is the story of a deaf and mute but excessively talented Cricketer living in an obscure village. The film saw a stupendous response thanks to the story which was just a filmed version of the dreams and aspirations of thousands in this country. The film not only gave a new identity to Shreyas Talapade, but it also showed to Bollywood filmmakers that an entertaining and successful movie could be done without spicing it up with routine tricks.
Chak De India (2007)
Director : Shimit Amin
This was perhaps the first film made with a focus on Hockey. Based on the life incidents of Mir Ranjan Negi, it has also blended patriotism and reality. It has received accolades as well as success at many levels. It has not lost focus on Hockey, on account of which it has really became a sports movie.
Tara Ram Pam (2007)
Director : Siddharth Anand
Though this movie is a story of a Racing Champion, it stops short of bring a sport movie. The reason for this are too obvious. There is no depiction of Car Racing. Instead it focuses on family drama. The audience too did not heeded to the movie. The movie only showed some scenes on Racing field. That’s all.
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Ashwini (1992)Director : Chandramauli
This movie based on the real life story of ace athlete Ashwini Nachappa was a unique experiment in its genre. What was more noteworthy was that the main role of the athlete was enacted by Ashwini herself. The sad part of it was that though the film appeared well, it received a meager response at the box office.
Awwal Number (1990)
Director : Dev Anand
The evergreen and irrepressible Dev Anand came up with this novel film. The disheartening part was the half-hearted treatment given to the portrayal of the subject. The film had dwelt on many subjects related to Cricket. Alas, but that dwelling was too superficial. This movie starring Dev Anand, Amir Khan and Aditya Pancholi could not even register its presence at theatres, let alone making any news.
Lagaan (2001)
Director : Ashutosh Gowarikar
This was the film that heralded the new crop of sports movies adoring today’s silver screens. It has cleverly blended patriotism, history and the cricket frenzy of Indians to give a superb celluloid venture. Making its presence felt at the last stage of Oscar race has also helped it to an extent to be a memorable movie.
Iqbal (2003)Director : Nagesh Kukoor
This is the story of a deaf and mute but excessively talented Cricketer living in an obscure village. The film saw a stupendous response thanks to the story which was just a filmed version of the dreams and aspirations of thousands in this country. The film not only gave a new identity to Shreyas Talapade, but it also showed to Bollywood filmmakers that an entertaining and successful movie could be done without spicing it up with routine tricks.
Chak De India (2007)Director : Shimit Amin
This was perhaps the first film made with a focus on Hockey. Based on the life incidents of Mir Ranjan Negi, it has also blended patriotism and reality. It has received accolades as well as success at many levels. It has not lost focus on Hockey, on account of which it has really became a sports movie.
Tara Ram Pam (2007)Director : Siddharth Anand
Though this movie is a story of a Racing Champion, it stops short of bring a sport movie. The reason for this are too obvious. There is no depiction of Car Racing. Instead it focuses on family drama. The audience too did not heeded to the movie. The movie only showed some scenes on Racing field. That’s all.
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