Bollywood And Cricket
It is hard to find an Indian who is not interested in either of the two. Yes, Bollywood and Cricket are India’s two priced obsessions. And while cricketing stars are always charmed by the glamour of filmdom our tinsel town too isn’t any less wooed by the nation’s ever growing fanaticism. Even though the flirtation of the Hindi film world with cricket has had a moderate success earlier, Bollywood still continues to churn out films based on Cricket.
Awwal Number:
Long before Lagaan happened, Aamir Khan’s first tryst with cricket began with Dev Anand directed film Awwal Number. In this film Aamir featured as an Indian Cricket team’s upcoming player. The film centred around the on-field and off-field rivalry between two cricketers, Aamir and Aditya Panscholi, that almost culminates in a daring attack on Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium as a match is in progress.
All-rounder:
Released a year after India’s World Cup victory, Mohan Kumar’s All-rounder starring Kumar Gaurav had been inspired by the rags-to-riches story of Eknath Solkar. Despite shooting live the Indo-Pak Test match at Jalandhar and interspersing it with shots of its hero playing at Mumbai’s Cricket Club of India and the Wankhede Stadium, this Mohan Kumar’s film failed to strike a chord with even our cricket crazy masses.
Lagaan:
Among all the Bollywood Movies on Cricket, Lagaan is supposed to be the most successful one. It was perhaps the first movie in the recent history that had a cricket match forming the backbone of the story’s plot. The movie showed the rise of the underdog when an ill-equipped team of Indian villagers managed to defeat the trained English team to get three-year lagaan (land tax) waived off. Even the Oscars couldn’t ignore the film, but fell just short of honouring it with a golden-man statuette.
Iqbal:
Another recent movie that has its plot beautifully woven around cricket is Nagesh Kukunoor’s Iqbal. The film creates immense fascination of a dumb and deaf boy for the game of cricket. Iqbal, the pivotal character of the film makes his way to be a pace bowler with his hard work and sheer struggle. Ultimately he is included in the Indian cricket team in pursuance of his big dream.
Say Salaam India:
Say Salaam India revolves around a group of four boys and their passion for cricket. The boys come from poor backgrounds and limited resources, but what they have is a zeal for the game and undeniable natural talent. The film was directed by Subhash Kapoor. The director not only wrote the script but also developed a believable story around the traditional idea of the underdogs overcoming adversity and winning the cup.
Hat Trick:
Milan Luthria’s Hat Trick was also a film based on cricket. The story of the film is beautifully woven around 5 main characters that are linked to cricket in many ways. Kunal Kapoor and Rimi Sen play the die hard fans of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film also stars Paresh Rawal who plays the character of a cricket fan based in England. The character played by Nana Patekar has immense hatred for anything associated with cricket. The story of the film revolves round the World Cup.
Meerabai Not Out:
Meerabai Not Out with the excellent former TV sports anchor Mandira Bedi could in so many ways have been much better than what it was – but this film, which essentially was a love story involving a woman who is a cricket fanatic, had a rushed feel about cricket to it and failed to ignite any passion or interest.
Jannat:
Even though a slew of films on cricket released after Lagaan, none could achieve the same success. The only movie that saw moderate success at the box-office was Emraan Hashmi starrer Jannat. Loosely based on the mystery surrounding the death of Pakistan cricket coach and former England captain Bob Woolmer and the 2007 World Cup, the film was a masala mix of romance, mafia links, match-fixing and betting. Emraan Hashmi played a cricket bookie in the film.
Victory:
Cricketers across boundaries shot for this Hindi film alongside Hurman Baweja. Victory depicts the story of a small town boy who dreams of playing cricket for India, The film features some of the world’s finest cricketers like Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka, Australian fast bowler Brett Lee, England bowlers Sajid Mahmood and Simon Jones, and New Zealand all-rounder Craig McMillan.
Dil Bole Hadippa!:
Bollywood beauty Rani Mukerji plays the role of a male cricketer in Yash Raj Film’s forthcoming film Dil Bole Hadippa!. The film is said to be about a young village girl who sports the look of a sardar in order to pursue her dreams of playing for the Indian cricket team.
Hook Ya Crook:
The last to join the bandwagon is the UTV Films’ Hook Ya Crook starring John Abraham, Genelia D’Souza, Kay Kay Menon and Shreyas Talpade. The film directed by David Dhawan has been situated in prison and revolves around a cricket match played among the inmates. The USP of the film is going to be a cameo in the guest role to be played by the Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is also a good friend of John Abraham.
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