Films

The Bollywood-Sports Nexus
A Tale of Guts and Glory on Celluloid
By Sandeep Verma
Bollywood’s fascination with sports is not something new. Ever since India lifted the World Cup Cricket in 1983, Bollywood found a new theme of making movies on the sports platform. After making a series of movies on Cricket in the last thirty years, it seems the subject has lost its sheen, despite the game maintaining its grip on the popularity charts. Nonetheless, irrespective of being a blockbuster or a flop, Maya nagri’s movies on sports have always benefited the sports arena.

Earlier from fictional plots and now to real life films based on the unsung legendary heroes of the Indian sports, sports based movies have made a comeback from down the memory lane to glory and stardom. Aamir Khan starrer “Lagaan”, won accolades all across the globe but Cricket being a very popular game in the country with a cash rich board doesn’t really need any promotion  .However, the 2007 blockbuster “Chak De! India” on Women Hockey and “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal” on football definitely worked wonders for the sport. “Chak De!India”  was a semi fictional plot inspired by the Indian women hockey team’s success at  the Commonwealth Games in the year 2002.The popularity of the movie saw the return of love and passion amongst the youth for the national game. Indian Hockey which had almost became a laughing stock worldwide, got a fresh lease of life. The suspension of the Indian Hockey Federation and the revival of Hockey India in 2008 was a huge success. Even former players applauded the changes. Aslam Sher Khan, former hockey player stated in an interview, "We have to make a Team India as you have seen in bollywood blockbuster Chak De! India”.  “ Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal”, though not a hit, led to a revival of the Indian football and mainly the Indian Football league. Baichung Bhutia, former India Football team captain and one of the best talents of the game in the country supported the movie whole heartedly.

 “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” and “Paan Singh Tomar”, are the two recent examples of the success films of this genre enjoy. They have reawakened the interest of the youth towards athletics. “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” has found both commercial and critical acclaim besides being declared a super hit. Such has been impact of this film that several states in India have made it tax free. “Paan Singh Tomar”, on the other hand, got its lead actor the national best actor award and is on the must see list of every movie loving buff.  Another forthcoming flick is on Mary Kom, the legendary Indian female boxer who needs no introduction. The biopic based on her struggle to reach the top would certainly be an inspiration for the young boxers.Hopefully once the movie is released, more females would be encouraged to take up boxing as a sport and give the country more prestigious awards and medals.