Cricket is so woven into the fabric of the Indian pastime that friends are often made - or lost – when the topic is debated. And because it’s so intrinsic to the community, the film fraternity has delved right in, making movies about everything from player to game and scandals in between. As IPL kicks off in UAE, here’s a look at some films the field has inspired.
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Lagaan One of the better known movies in this series is ‘Lagaan’, which explored how cricket plays the role of great equalizer. Set in the time of British Raj, the movie saw villagers gamble on their prowess in an alien game against Englishmen. The wager? Lagaan, or tax, three years’ worth.
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Iqbal, completing 15 years is next up, another underdog. Player Iqbal overcomes many things including rejection because of his hearing and speech impediment. Most of all, he overcomes others’ perception of him thanks to his talent with the ball.
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Kai Po Che! Late actor Sushant singh Rajput’s big break came with this movie set in Gujrat, which explores love of the sport and friendship amid a backdrop of politics and social upheaval.
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M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story In 2016, three years after his role in ‘Kai Po Che!’ Rajput took on a sportsman-based biopic, where he played titular character former Test, ODI and T20I captain of the Indian national cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
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Dil Bole Hadippa!: This drama takes on a Mulan-esque telling. When aspiring cricketer Veera Kaur (Rani Mukherji) hears about try-outs, she won’t let something like gender get in her way. She dresses up like a man and plays her heart out, getting picked for the team. Of course, a comedy then unfolds.
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Azhar: The movie inspired by the real-life player Mohammad Azharuddin dives into the cricketer’s growth in the game, his early days on the India squad all the way until the match-fixing scandal that ended his career.
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Ferrari ki Sawari: This is essentially a tale of love – but not in the romantic sense. It is a story of a boy’s love for a game and his family’s fondness for him. When Kayo is selected to play at Lord’s, his father must somehow come up with the money that will allow for it. He comes up with a plan, to steal Sachin Tendulkar’s Ferrari. He is joined by his father in this endeavour, leading to a series of scrapes and enlightenment wrapped in laughs.
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All-rounder: Similarly, in All-rounder, a brother’s love helps a cricketer down on his luck, kicked out of the Indian team, get back onto the field and back into the business of playing.
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Patiala House: How much would you let family dictate your dream? For Gattu (Akshay Kumar), who lives in England, the story begins with his father barring him from his beloved cricket. His journey to find his true self and the pitch he is most at home on is explored in the rest of the tale.
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Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii: Games can breed superstition. A lucky sock, a lucky person – or in the case of this movie, a lucky bat. When 13-year-old Karan (Zain Khan) gets his hands on Kapil Dev’s bat – the one he used in the 1983 World Cup final – he can’t get over it. His moves become so fine turned that he becomes the youngest player to step into the world of international cricket. And then comes trouble…
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