Best cricket movies: In India, cricket season has begun. Cricket, one of the most widely televised sports in the world, has had a significant impact on film. It’s also a sport that lends itself well to becoming the subject of a film, whether it’s a drama or a documentary.
Cricket and cinema have been two of every Indian’s great passions for the past two decades. The two great fields, which differ in some ways but are primarily aimed at public entertainment, are an integral part of Indian culture. While the film is fiction, cricket is undeniably real.
Cricket has been celebrated in all its glory in Hindi films over the years. The sport has consistently dominated the silver screen, whether as a setting for a rom-com or to tell the story of a cricketer’s journey. Bring out your blue jerseys and get ready to cheer for India again with these cricket-themed movies.
Best motivational cricket movies:
1. Ghoomer:
Year of release: 2023
Director: R. Balki
IMDB rating: 8.3/10
OTT platform: Zee5
Storyline: Young batting prodigy Anina injures her right hand on the eve of her international debut. A former cricketer enters her life and gives her new hope. Thanks to innovative training, she became a bowler for the Indian cricket team, and they invented a new bowling style. The film had its World Premiere as the opening film at Melbourne’s 12th Indian Film Festival on August 12, 2023, and was released theatrically in India on August 18, 2023. On November 10, 2023, it was released on the streaming platform ZEE5.
Ghoomer is based on the true story of a late athlete who suffered a catastrophic hand injury but went on to win two Olympic gold medals. Balki co-wrote it with Rahul Sengupta and Rishi Virmani, and the film is heavily focused on empathy. He effortlessly connects you with his characters thanks to his strong writing and straightforward screenplay. You sympathize with both Anina’s struggle and Paddy’s despair. While Anina’s condition makes you feel helpless, Balki never depicts her in a pitiful state, which is appreciated.
It’s a typical sports drama premise that requires more than a little suspension of disbelief, but the treatment makes it relatable and engaging. Cricket is so popular that its representation on the big screen often feels staged and fake, but there is hardly any gap here. Balki understands the complexities of cricket, which shows in his portrayal of the game and the debates that surround it.
2. Lagaan:
Year of release: 2001
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
IMDB rating: 8.1/10
OTT platform: Netflix
Storyline: During the British Raj, a farmer named Bhuvan accepts Captain Andrew Russell’s challenge to defeat his team in a game of cricket in order for his village to be exempt from paying taxes for the next three years.
Ashutosh Gowariker was brilliant in combining all three in one allegorical package and selling the idea to Aamir Khan, who produced and starred in the resulting screenplay. The rest is cinematic history, and one of the most successful Indian efforts at historical cinema: an epic-length (nearly four hours, yet surprisingly well-paced and gripping) parable in which the indigenization of cricket becomes a metaphor for the entire Indian Independence struggle, as well as for the larger and still-ongoing project of (to quote another Nandy book) the “loss and recovery of self under colonialism.”
Lagaan cost a whopping Rs. 25 crores (250 million rupees, or approximately $6 million USD), a huge risk for the rarely profitable Bollywood genre of historical film. It went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2001, and only the third Indian film (after Mother India and Salaam Bombay) to be nominated for an Academy Award in the United States.
3. Iqbal:
Year of release: 2005
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
IMDB rating: 8.1/10
OTT platform: Amazon Prime Video
Storyline: Iqbal (Shreyas Talpade) is a deaf and mute boy whose mother Saida (Prateeksha Lonkar) was a die-hard cricket fan. Iqbal, who was born in the year India won the World Cup in 1983, aspires to play cricket for India. His father Anwar (Yatin Karyekar), on the other hand, believes that Iqbal’s daydreams are a waste of time.
Instead, he wishes for Iqbal to assist him in tending to the crops and becoming a farmer like him, which would be a secure profession. Saida still believes in Iqbal. Iqbal requests one year of Anwar’s time, which he grants. Iqbal goes to the fields every day to practice. He eats lunch with a local drunkard named Mohit (Naseeruddin Shah).
A good sports drama captures that feeling. Even in the final shot, with the crowd cheering, one’s heart goes out to the protagonist, as well as actual athletes out there who will never be able to wear the Indian jersey because of circumstances beyond their control. Iqbal, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, accomplishes this with simplicity, and it is unfortunate that the film is not discussed as much as it should be.
It has an impact, but not because it instils pity, and writer-director Nagesh deserves credit for handling the disability discourse sensitively. The film stands the test of time because the actors and creators put their hearts into it. Perhaps cinema is similar to bowling in that regard. “Ye dimag ka khel hai jo dil se khela jaata hai,” Mohit says in one scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE0YDKgcuN8
So, this was all about the best motivational cricket movies of all time. Also read, Can’t spot baby bump as actor Anushka Sharma leaves for WC.
