The entry and exit of certain trends is usually witnessed in Bollywood. When a specific-issue oriented film claims its place in the lucrative market, films roughly revolving around the same issue hugely wave into the box-office game.
Going by this Bollywood funda, if you take a sneak peek over the latest releases, a ‘sporty’ Bollywood will surely come into the picture. After trying its hands at romance, comedy, action and drama, Bollywood is now focusing more and emphasising on sport-oriented stories.
It’s not that Indian cinema hasn’t handled the movies with athletic issues before this, as Chak De India!, Lagaan, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar & Iqbal are some of the irreplaceable gems given by filmmakers to the movie history.
But if we decide to count now,the number of movies concerning sports is rising highly on an average. It includes biopics of famous sport personalities as well as sport’s generic nature through the social perspective.
Amongst these, major trendsetters were Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which discovered the journey of the prominent Indian athlete and Olympian, Milkha Singh and Kai Po Che which showcased different shades of intensity of friendship through the medium of sports.
The trend hasn’t faded yet, instead, it has risen up with a boost as there are many such movies lined up in 2016.
Now, let us have a look at some of the recent and upcoming sport-game related movies-
- Azhar- Starring Emraan Hashmi, it was based on the life of former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The film had got mired in controversies for vindicating Azharuddin, despite having charges of fixing a match. It was for the first time that a biopic on sportsperson having a gray background was produced.
Sultan- This recent blockbuster with Salman Khan in the titular role has been receiving humongous response since day one of its release. It shows the struggle of a middle-aged wrestling champion, his burning desire to win at the Olympics and his tumultuous personal life.- Sala Khadoos- It had R.Madhavan playing the role of a boxing trainer, who picks up a random fish-seller to coach. The movie shows love blooming between trainer and student, while the sport acts as a cupid!
- M.S. Dhoni- This is the most anticipated movie of the year based one of India’s most celebrated cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni, starring Sushant Singh Rajput in the pivotal role. It releases on 30th September.
- Dangal- It has been successful at creating buzz since it was announced. It is a biographical story of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who himself trained his daughters, who further went on to win prestigious accolades at Commonwealth Games. The recently released poster has stirred critical acclamation among masses leaving everyone to wait for 23rd December, its release date.
Budhia Singh – Born To Run- Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Mayur Patole, it is a biopic of Budhia Singh, a marathon athlete, who covered the distance from Bhubaneshwar to Puri at the age of 5. The movie has won The National Award For Best Children’s Film even before releasing. It is all set to run on August 5 in theatres.
Not only this, Bollywood stars are now finding various ways to connect themselves to the sports. The fresh example being Bollywood’s reigning queen, Deepika Padukone, who inherits sporting skills from her father, Prakash Padukone. She has chosen to be the face of Nike’s awareness campaign and recently revealed her personal depression phase. The brand advertisement, which shows Padukone playing badminton along with many other young female athletes, garnered a whopping 2 million views in less than 12 hours. On her Facebook Page, Deepika credited sport for acting as her backbone and supporting her in her bitter trance.
She wrote, “Sport has taught me how to handle failure. It has also taught me how to handle success. It has kept me grounded. It has taught me humility. Two years ago I struggled with depression. I was sinking. I almost gave up. But it was the athlete in me that gave me the strength to fight and never ever give up! And so I want to say to every girl and every boy and every woman and every man…play a sport…because it changed my life…and it will change yours too! Sport has taught me how to survive! It has taught me how to fight! It has made me unstoppable!”
In a nation like India, where parents still prefer their child to choose medicine or engineering, this Bollywood inclination towards sports is definitely making some good changes to the stereotypical mindset of most Indians. Such movies focus and deliver a provoking message to the masses that ‘even sport can be a good career option if you are persistent enough towards it!’
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