Bollywood and Cricket- an unending romance

Bollywood and cricket always had a thing for each other. There have been many occasions when Bollywood filmmakers used cricket as their muse and created on-screen dramas. The about to be released,83, is a new addition to this list. The personalities, nail-biting finishes, helicopter shots, and the emotions that Cricket triggers have always made cricket Bollywood's favourite inspiration for movie plots.

Ranveer Singh starrer 83, is making headlines on social media promising to be the ultimate nostalgia ride of the time when India won the cricket World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of legendary Kapil Dev.

We present here a list of movies based on cricket for all cricket lovers out there-

Love Marriage (1959)

Sunil Kumar (Dev Anand), a promising cricketer, arrives in Bombay and leases a room but soon finds himself in a confrontation with the landlord's daughter, Geeta (Mala Sinha). On the other hand, Geeta shows in for a match Sunil is playing and falls in love with him in the course of the match. Even when he plays some reasonably unusual, average cricket, Sunil's Ray Lindwall-like bowling action is evident. They eventually marry, and their relationship deteriorates as time passes. The duet Dheere Dheere chal by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar, among other masterpieces, has become synonymous with the film.

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All Rounder (1984)

Bollywood took a quarter-century and (perhaps) the 1983 World Cup victory to produce the next cricket film. Birju Kumar (Vinod Mehra) struggled to raise his younger brother Ajay (Kumar Gaurav), who eventually made the Indian team at the cost of renowned cricketer Vikram Sehwag (Shakti Kapoor). Vikram avenges himself by getting Ajay intoxicated and dropping him from the Indian Test team. To return to the Test side, Ajay must put in a tremendous mental effort and rely on Birju's unwavering backing.

Awwal Number (1990)

This cricket-themed film, directed by Dev Anand, centres on the competition amongst teammates. When Sunny (Aamir Khan) replaces cricket sensation Ronny (Aditya Pancholi) in the team, a schism develops between the two. Sunny's ascension in the world of cricket is chronicled in the film, with Ronny unsuccessfully attempting to undermine his career. This is the third cricket movie from Bollywood involving Dev Anand — this time as the director and an actor who played Vikram Singh, aka Vicky.

Lagaan (2001)

Lagaan is without a doubt Bollywood's masterpiece when it comes to cricket films. When you combine cricket and patriotism, cast Aamir Khan, enlist Bhanu Athaiya to design the clothes, and enlist AR Rehman to compose the music, you can't go wrong. You get a whole movie when you combine Anil Mehta's superb cinematography with Amitabh Bachchan's narrative. Cricket practise under floodlights, match-fixing, a cripple bowling leg-breaks, and even AK Hangal made the film truly entertaining.

Lagaan was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards, becoming the third Indian film to be nominated in the category after Mother India and Salaam Bombay!

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii

Karan (Zain Khan), a 13-year-old orphan raised on Kapil Dev's 175 not out in the 1983 World Cup, is the film's protagonist. He gets to obtain the bat used by Kapil Dev in that innings, and he bats so well with his magic bat' that he becomes the youngest player in international cricket history. However, when Karan joins the Indian team, Varun (Rahul Bose), he has a sequence of misfortunes, including losing his bat before the series' final match. Kapil Dev also makes an appearance in this movie.

Dil Bole Hadippa!

The Indian remake of the popular Hollywood film She's the Man, Dil Bole Hadippa also uses cricket in the story. Veera Kaur (Rani Mukherji) aims to be a national-level cricketer in this Yash Raj film. When Team India captain Rohan (Shahid Kapoor) holds a trial session to choose the following players, Veera disguises herself as a man. The rest of the storey is a comedy of mistakes.

Patiala House

The plot of this film revolves around a young British Indian, played by Akshay Kumar, whose love of cricket clashes with his father's goal. Nonetheless, Akki dazzles the audience with his incredible bowling skills. The issue arises when Gattu is chosen for England, which enrages his father. Despite Gurtej's heart attack, Gattu continues to play and eventually wins the match, and his father's heart complimented his son on his bowling skills.

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

One of our most successful cricketers is MS Dhoni. He's not just famed for his batting brilliance but also for his lightning-quick wicket-keeping skills. He is the only skipper in cricket history to have won all of the ICC trophies. M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, his biopic, followed his life and cricketing career until India's victory at the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Before filming began, former wicketkeeper Kiran More directly tutored Sushant Singh Rajput in wicket-keeping and batting for thirteen months, and he performed an outstanding job as Dhoni.

Azhar

Azhar was a heavily fictionalised portrayal of the life of former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin, who was implicated in a betting scandal and had his career was cut short as a result. He was recognised for his graceful hitting and was a prolific fielder in his prime, with a Test batting average of 45.03. He also had a colourful off-field life, marrying actress Sangeeta Bijlani after divorcing his first wife Naureen in 1996. Emraan Hashmi played Mohammad Azharuddin in the film Azhar, while Nargis Fakhri played Sangeeta Bijlani and Prachi Desai played his first wife, Naureen. Emraan performed an excellent job in his role, perfectly imitating Azhar's characteristic wristy strokes. It was a poor picture of a flawed life, but it was nonetheless fascinating.

The Zoya Factor

It is based on Anuja Chauhan's novel of the same name. Her ex-army officer father (Sanjay Kapoor) considers Zoya Solanki (Sonam Kapoor) lucky for cricket because she was born on the day India won the cricket world cup for the first time in 1983. A series of events brings her into contact with the current Indian squad, who also begin to regard her as a lucky mascot. The only person who opposes her is the team's captain, Nikhil Khoda (Dulquer Salmaan), who feels that winning matches comes down to hard work and team spirit rather than a good luck charm. What follows is a light hearted romantic drama film centred on Zoya, her luck, and Cricket.

Ferrari Ki Sawaari

Rusy, played by Sharman Joshi, commits his first tiny act of dishonesty to achieve his son's ambition of playing at Lord's Cricket Ground: he borrows Sachin Tendulkar's red Ferrari for a day. This moving film explores the complexities of a father-son relationship and is a must-see for any child interested in becoming a cricketer.

In addition to the above, here are 2 upcoming cricket-based movies!

Jersey- Shahid is at the centre of this remake of popular Telugu film of the same name. He plays a failed cricketer who decides to revive his cricket career for his son.

Mr and Mrs Mahi- The film will release on 7th Oct 2020 stars Rajkumar Rao as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Jahnvi Kapoor as Mahima. The film will be directed by Kargil Game fame Sharan Sharma.