DT e-Paper 22 July 2017

22
SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2017
DT
Showtime
Bollywood movies based on sports
• Showtime Desk
Bollywood is obsessed with
cricket. From Iqbal to Kai Po Che,
Lagan to biopics like M S Dhoni
– film makers are always up for
cricket based movies. However
there are also some movies which
are based on other sports. Here
is a list of movies for all sports
enthusiasts.
Dangal (2017)
Dangal, directed by Nitesh Tiwari,
stars Aamir Khan as Mahavir Singh
Phogat, an amateur wrestler, who
trains his daughters Geeta Phogat
and Babita Kumari to be worldclass
wrestlers, both of whom
go on to win medals at the 2010
Commonwealth Games. Fatima
Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra
play the older selves of the sisters,
while Sakshi Tanwar play their
mother and Aparshakti Khurana,
their cousin. According to the
latest reports, Dangal has earned
Rs1,756 crores worldwide.
Besides Aamir Khan, Dangal
starred Fatima Sana Shaikh,
Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim,
Sakshi Tanwar and Aparshakti
Khurrana in the lead roles. The
film was acclaimed by critics
almost unanimously and saw
innumerable people flocking to the
theatres to catch a show.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992)
Mansoor Khan’s sports drama
was the story of several highschool
students vying for a cycling
competition, juxtaposed with a
love story. Sanju (Aamir Khan)
is Ratan’s younger brother and
is everything that Ratan is not.
He’s a carefree youngster who is
full of himself and is always in
trouble with his father Ramlal
(Kulbhushan Kharbanda), who
wants him to act more maturely
and become responsible like
Ratan. The Aamir Khan-starrer
made Rs3.30 crores at the box
office.
Sultan (2016)
Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan)
is a middle-aged ex-wrestling
champion, who lives a mediocre
and lonely life in a small town in
Haryana. Aakash Oberoi (Amit
Sadh), the founder of a private
mixed martial arts league, is
encouraged by his father to hire
an Indian wrestler to salvage
the league’s popularity. Sultan
is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar.
Produced by Aditya Chopra under
Yash Raj Films banner, the film
stars Salman Khan and Anushka
Sharma in the lead roles.
Mary Kom (2014)
The biographical film directed
by Omung Kumar saw Priyanka
Chopra essay the role of the
eponymous boxer, while
Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa
played supporting characters.
The film won the Best Popular
Film Providing Wholesome
Entertainment honour at the 62nd
National Film Awards and made
Rs56 crores at the box office.
Hawaa Hawaai (2014)
Amole Gupte (of Taare Zameen
Par) directed the film starring
his son Partho and Saqib
Saleem, which was about an
underprivileged child’s dream to
skate. It made Rs10.42 crores in
box office collections.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)
The film starring Farhan Akhtar
was based on the life and struggles
of legendary athlete Milkha Singh,
and was directed by Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra. It won Akhtar
several best actor awards that year
and earned nearly Rs109 crores at
the box office.
Breakaway (2011)
Breakaway, or Speedy Singhs (the
Hindi version of the movie), is
the story of Rajveer Singh (Vinay
Virmani), a young and dedicated
teenager who gave up college due
to his lack of interest. Rajveer
and his father Darvesh had never
gotten along. Rajveer meets up
with his friends, and when they
get time, they play hockey. One
day, while practising hockey, a
few players on the Hammerheads
insult the Singhs, and Rajveer and
his friends beat the other players
at hockey. Realising how good they
are, Rajveer decides to make a
hockey team with his friends.
Brothers (2015)
Filmmaker Karan Malhotra
directed actors Akshay Kumar
and Sidharth Malhotra in the
official remake of the 2011 film
Warrior, an action drama based on
mixed martial arts. Also starring
Jacqueline Fernandez, Jackie
Shroff and Shefali Shah, the film
earned Rs82 crores in box office
collections.
Saala Khadoos (2016)
R Madhavan played coach to
newcomer and real-life boxer,
Ritika Singh, in director Sudha
Kongara’s sports drama. An
under-fire boxing coach, Prabhu
is transferred from Hisar in
Haryana to Chennai, as his bosses
at the Boxing Council do not like
his disrespectful, rule-breaking
and unconventional ways. In
Chennai, he chances upon the
raw fighting talent of Madhi, the
sibling of aspiring boxer Lakshmi.
Simultaneously made in Tamil
as Irudhi Suttru, the film was coproduced
by Rajkumar Hirani, and
made Rs14 crores at the box office.
Striker (2010)
Striker was a crime thriller
revolving around the life of a
ghetto-born carom champion.
Directed by Chandan Arora, it
made Rs84 lakhs in box office
collections.
Chak De India (2007)
Shimit Amin’s film saw actor
Shah Rukh Khan play coach to
a women’s hockey team and
take them to international glory,
inspired by the team’s real-life
win at the 2002 Commonwealth
Games. It won the National
Film Award for Best Popular
Film Providing Wholesome
Entertainment that year and made
Rs35 crores at the box office.
Apne (2007)
Directed by Anil Sharma, this is
the first and one of the three films
to feature real life father and sons
Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and
Bobby Deol together. Sunny and
Bobby had worked together before
in Dillagi and Dharmendra and
Sunny had also appeared together
in Sultanat (1986) and Kshatriya
(1993). Kirron Kher, Shilpa Shetty
and Katrina Kaif play the female
leads. The film opened to an
excellent response across India
and emerged as a hit overseas as
well.
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal (2007)
The film, starring John Abraham,
Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi and
Boman Irani, was based on the
fictional story of the south Asian
community’s struggle to play
professional football in the UK.
Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, it
made Rs15 crores at the box office.
My Brother…Nikhil (2005)
One of Bollywood’s earliest takes
on homosexuality, director Onir’s
film was the story of an AIDSafflicted,
state-level swimming
champion played by Sanjay Suri.
The critically acclaimed feature
only made Rs1.20 crore at the box
office.
Bend it Like Beckham (2002)
Bend It Like Beckham is a comedydrama
film starring Parminder
Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan
Rhys-Meyers, Anupam Kher,
Shaznay Lewis, and Archie
Panjabi, first released in the United
Kingdom. The film was directed by
Gurinder Chadha. Its title refers to
the football player David Beckham
and his skill at scoring from free
kicks by bending the ball past a
wall of defenders. •