From Hollywood to Bollywood (and even in the new-age Pakistan cinema), movies made on the theme of sports have always entertained audiences. Some flicks have made the actors go the extra mile while some have won accolades for the directors. Let’s take a look at some of these movies that have left a deep impression.

Knocked out

Boxing may not be the most loved sports in the world but when it comes to Hollywood, it means big bucks. Be it Robert De Niro’s Raging Bull (1980) or Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel (2011) and Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, boxing is undoubtedly the most filmed sport of all times — and Rocky (1976) is the most loveable boxing flick ever produced. Not only did the underdog movie give the world a superstar in Sylvester Stallone it also spawned as many as five sequels including the last one as recently as in 2006.

Main Hoon Shahid Afridi

Clint Eastwood made his name as ‘The Man With No Name’ or Dirty Harry but won the Oscar for best director for Million Dollar Baby (2004) where he trained a young female boxer to stardom, and when all was going well, tragedy struck. Brilliant acting from Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman got them both Oscars for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor whereas the man behind the camera rode away into the sunset with his second Academy Award.

Director Michael Mann’s biography of the greatest boxer of all time — Ali (2001) — featured Will Smith in the title role. The film was about Muhammad Ali’s conversion to Islam and his career till 1974 when he retained his world title. Not only did Will Smith have to gain weight to look the part, he had to impress an audience that had grown watching Ali’s fights — and he doesn’t disappoint. Indian actress Priyanka Chopra also had to deglamorise herself to play Indian gold-medalist boxer Mary Kom (2014) in the biographical movie and delivers a knockout performance. For an actress who has been known to sizzle on screen due to her charisma, Priyanka’s performance as the boxer was appreciated by audience and critics alike, winning her praise and accolades from all over, including Mary Kom, the boxer.

Enter the umpire

Let’s talk about the sport that is most popular in this part of the world — cricket. No film has helped the game more on screen than Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan: Once Upon A Time in India (2001) but trust me … the teasers, the trailers and the posters had no indication that the film was about the sport. People thronged the cinema to watch Aamir Khan emulate Dilip Kumar (as in Naya Daur) and they weren’t disappointed. The title character managed to beat the crap out of the British team long before India was awarded Test status or One Day International cricket was born but who cares. Outstanding screenplay, amazing direction and brilliant portrayal of a village in the last century was all that was required to take the movie into the Oscars. Add to that authentic costumes, British actors, A.R. Rehman’s amazing soundtrack and Javed Akhtar’s lyrics and the producer Aamir Khan had a winner.

Sports and cinema go together like babies and pacifiers! Here Omair Alavi takes you through some flicks that scored some serious cinematic goals

Next comes Iqbal (2005) in which director Nagesh Kukunoor made a cricketer out of debutant Shreyas Talpade. A big deal considering the title character was supposed to be in love with the game, wanted to represent the Indian cricket team but was a village boy who couldn’t speak or hear. How that deaf and mute farmer manages to get everyone’s attention in the corridors of Indian cricket is shown in this movie which also features Naseeruddin Shah in an enigmatic role of the coach who makes it all possible. Watch out for Kapil Dev’s guest appearance at the end of the movie.

Scene from The Karate Kid

Pakistan also entered the sports film zone with Main Hoon Shahid Afridi (2013) where Syed Ali Raza Usama directs and Humayun Saeed both produces and plays the role of a coach for a team of Under-19 cricketers. The coach has a past but he forgets that to give the youngsters a future. The film stands out due to its script by Vasay Chaudhry who inserts pop culture references here and there, mostly related to the game. The cast comprises Mahnoor Baloch, Javed Shiekh, Nadeem, Shafqat Cheema, Noman Habib, Ainy Jaffri, Gohar Rasheed, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Ismail Tara and managed to attract the crowd that watched the film due to one factor — cricket.

Pedal power

That doesn’t mean that other sports haven’t been touched by filmmakers — cycling has been a bone of contention in Hollywood as well as Bollywood with success. While Breaking Away (1979) won an Academy Award for its screenplay, American Flyers (1985) gave Kevin Costner the push towards the stardom he so required. Both films deal with the ‘underdog cyclist wins the race’ phenomenon and the idea was taken up by Mansoor Khan who came up with Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) which had drama, emotion, tragedy and above all, cycling. The story about inter-school rivalry, friendship and deceit was made evergreen by Jatin-Lalit’s soundtrack and Aamir Khan’s acting long before he opted for the one-film-per-year formula.

Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby

Common goals

A lot of movies have been produced on football but none has been able to top the star power of Escape to Victory (1981). ‘Stand up for the champions’ could have been written for these actors in mind; Michael Caine was the captain of the Allied Prisoners’ Football team that featured an American goalkeeper Sylvester Stallone, professional footballers Bobby Moore, John Wark and one Edson Arantes do Nascimento also known as Pele in the lineup. They were playing against a German side led by Max Von Sydow while under custody in a PoW camp during World War II. Watch it for Pele’s bicycle kick if you can.

Chariots of Fire (1981) is another period sports drama but here, the students are the protagonists who defy the odds to win Olympic gold for Great Britain in 1924. The movie is still remembered for its iconic theme by Greek composer Vangelis. It won the ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Original Score’, ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Costume Design’ awards at the Oscars.

Pakistan also entered the sports film zone with Main Hoon Shahid Afridi (2013) where Syed Ali Raza Usama directs and Humayun Saeed both produces and plays the role of a coach for a team of Under-19 cricketers.

The only movie that can match the star power of the above mentioned Escape to Victory is Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday (1999), which deals with the on-the-field and off-the-field action in American football. There is Al Pacino as a coach, James Woods and Charlton Heston in pivotal roles, future Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Dennis Quaid as players, and the beautiful Cameron Diaz as one of the team owners.

Aamir Khan in Lagaan

Stick to hockey

No movie has inspired ice hockey fans in this part of the world like Miracle (2004). Based on the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ encounter between USA and USSR, the film had Kurt Russell playing Herb Brooks, the coach who helped United States regain the gold medal. Most of the scenes from this flick ‘inspired’ Shimit Amin to direct Chak De India where Shah Rukh Khan coaches Indian girls to glory. Fans of field hockey in both India and Pakistan love CDI because never before has the hockey field (and a hockey coach) looked this classy.

Scene from Chariots of Fire

Feel good stories

True stories with real-life figures are always interesting, especially when one Morgan Freeman is playing Nelson Mandela and one Clint Eastwood is calling the shots. This happened in Invictus (2009), which revolved around the Rugby World Cup played in South Africa in the 1990s. Matt Damon played the Proteas captain whom Madiba befriends and needless to say, Springboks win the World Cup, reuniting a nation that racial tension kept apart for 50 years. Then there is The Karate Kid (1984) in which handyman Keisuke Miyagi (Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita) tutors Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) into a Karate champion; Wimbledon (2004) where a washed up tennis player Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) tries his hand at the Grand Slam and surprises even himself; and the best underdog story of all time Bend it Like Beckham (2002). The British flick never gets old just like David Beckham and made stars out of Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Archie Panjabi. It’s all about football and how an 18-year old Punjabi girl, forbidden by her parents to play the game, helps her club make it to the top of the league, like Beckham!

Scene from Rocky IV

And more recently, Ron Howard’s Rush (2013) centered around the real-life rivalry between race car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) during the Formula One motor racing season in 1976. The flick features one of the best racing scenes ever filmed and is a must watch even if you aren’t a fan of motor sports. The same year, Indian director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra delivered Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biographical film based on the life of Indian athlete Milkha Singh who represented his country at the highest level — the Olympic Games. Farhan Akhtar won awards and praise from all over India for his amazing portrayal of the Indian great, who himself served as a consultant on the project.

The writer tweets @omair78

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, May 3rd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play