Lagaan
When in the early 2000s Aamir Khan decided to act and produce a movie about cricket and a bunch of villagers set in the British Raj, everyone thought Aamir has gone berserk as no such movie has been made in India before and everyone believed that it was going to be a big flop but when Lagaan released, everyone was surprised with the movie as it’s not only became a hit but also one of the only three movies from India to be nominated for the Best Movie in a foreign language at the highly respected the Academy Awards. Lagaan was a story about a bunch of villagers playing cricket against a team of British to get rid of the unreasonable tax.
Mary Kom
It featured Priyanka Chopra playing Mary Kom, a well-known female boxer who won a medal for India in the Olympics. The movie is based on the life of Mary Kom, a female Indian boxer from Manipur, and her journey to become one of India’s best-known boxers. With the support of her husband and the help of a coach, she sets out to achieve her dreams despite various hurdles in her life. The movie did well at the box office and was appreciated by the critics and general audience.
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Bhaag Milkha Bhag is based on the life of the legendary sprinter, Milkha Singh ‘The Flying Sikh’ and it starred Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh. Directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a biopic of India’s Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, who came within a whisker of winning an Olympic medal. Farhan Akhtar gave his blood and sweat to play the role of Milkha Singh and played to perfection. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is considered an iconic movie in the genre of biopics and sport-based movies. Reportedly, Milkha Singh took only 1 rupee to make a biopic on him.
Dangal
Another movie by Aamir Khan, Dangal is a movie inspired by the life of wrestler Mahavir Phogat and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. Dangal was directed by Nitesh Tiwary is the story of the Phogat family of Haryana. Mahavir Phogat is a former wrestler who dreams of winning medals for India and trains his daughters to become world-class wrestlers and win medals for India. It had Fatima Sana Shaikh as Geeta Phogat, and Sanya Malhotra is playing the role of Geeta’s sister, Babita Kumari. The movie was a blockbuster in India when released but it became an all-time blockbuster in China earning more than 2000 crores. The movie has such a craze in China that it had been watched on Chinese streaming platforms above 400 million times.
Chak De India
Chak De India tells of a former hockey player played by SRK who becomes coach of the Indian women’s hockey team and prepares them for the world cup. It follows the life of a beleaguered former Indian Hockey player Kabir Khan who has to leave hockey for something he has never done. A few years later he becomes coach of the Indian women’s hockey team and leads them to win the world cup against all the odds. Inspired by true events, it’s a perfect underdog story and was a critical and commercial success when released. Shahrukh Khan won all the major awards for the best actor that year.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar
Even though JJWS was more of a coming-of-age movie, sports played a very crucial part in the movie. The movie follows Sanjay (Aamir Khan) a good-for-nothing guy with a heart of gold. His elder brother Ratanlal (Mamik) was the best sportsman in this school and since it was his last year at school, he anyhow has to win the yearly inter-school tournament to bring glory to his much-loathed school but circumstances leads to such a way that he could not participate in the tournament and that is when Sanjay realizes his true value and takes part in the tournament and with a nail-biting climax including a cycle race, he triumphs and gets the trophy and glory to his school.
Jersey
Jersey starring Shahid Kapoor is a movie about a man who has to fight odds to gain respect from his son. He was a former cricketer who had to quit cricket due to some unavoidable circumstances. At present, he is a loser in his life but now he has to get back to playing cricket to gain his self-respect and prove to everyone that he is not a loser. It was a remake of a Telegu movie Jersey starring Nani. Though the movie didn’t do well at the box office, it got rave reviews from the critics and was one of the best performances of Shahid Kapoor.
