Bollywood & sports: Hits and the misses

Who can forget Shah Rukh Khan as the dashing coach of the women���s hockey team in Chak De! India or Aamir Khan hitting that six on the last ball in Lagaan. Bollywood heroes have many times taken to the field to score a ton at the box office.
While some were rewarded for their attempts, others had to return empty handed. Raj Kiran played a coach to a school team, but neither the film nor Raj���s performance made much of an impact.Mithun Chakraborthy got a better opening at the box office when he played a boxer in a movie by the same name. A complete masala fare, the movie was exactly what frontbenchers crave for. Kumar Gaurav tried to make a mark as a cricketer in All Rounder, but apart from cheesy dialogues like ���Iss ground ki kasam��� there was little that the movie had to offer. The audience too didn���t give it a warm reception. Soon producers started believing that movies based on sports didn���t work at the box office, and that led to a severe drought of such movies at the box office. Meanwhile cricketer Sandip Patil made his debut with Kabhi Ajnabee The, that too failed to make any money and that pretty much put a stop to anymore attempts at trying their luck at the box office.
Surprisingly Aamir and Shah Rukh who went on to star in the blockbusters Lagaan and Chak De! India, also starred in movies like Awwal Number and Chamatkar, which didn���t create any buzz and did nothing to increase their popularity. In fact Awwal Number questioned the audiences��� intelligence by showing Aditya Pancholi trying to kill Aamir by activating a bomb from a helicopter in the middle of Wankhede Stadium during a cricket match. Can you beat that! SRK tried his hand at coaching cricket, interestingly Ashutosh Gowariker who went on to make Lagaan starred in this caper as one of the bad guys.
The first sports-based movie that had the audience sit up and clap was Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander that featured Aamir and was directed by his cousin Mansoor Khan. Ashutosh Gowariker, who had turned director, approached buddy Aamir to produce his cricket-based movie. The movie made on a huge budget and shot entirely in Bhuj was first of its kind as it also had participation of the British actors on a huge scale. In the theatres the movie���s climax had the audience cheering, clapping and climbing atop their chairs.
If the investment was huge, the rewards were even better. Not only did the movie go on to become one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, gain critical acclaim and win awards on Indian shores, but it also was also nominated in the Best Film in Foreign Film category. The success of this movie encouraged producers to rethink their convictions. It also taught them the lesson that a good script will always work at the box office. This was proved when movies like Stumped and Hattrick failed at the box office, where as a medium-budget Iqbal went to win critical acclaim as well as box office success.
Salaam India starring Sanjay Suri and Milind Soman came and disappeared in no time. Ta Ra Rum Pum, based on car racing, starred Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji had all the ingredients to be a success at the box office. However, that didn���t happen. Chain Kulii ki Main Kulii, too, that was based on cricket didn���t work at the box office, while Apne did reasonably well. Then came Chak De! India, which wasn���t based on cricket, which is a religion in our country. Dhan Dhana Dhan...Goal, despite a decent storyline, couldn���t be a success. However, John Abraham did look hot as a soccer player. Meerabai Not Out, starring Mandira Bedi and Eijaz Khan, was about a cricket fanatic who has to chose between her love for Anil Kumble and getting married. Harman Baweja���s second movie as an actor had him playing a cricketer in Victory. It was a disaster. The recently released Dil Bole Haddipa too failed. The forthcoming movies on sports include Yahan Ke Hum Sikander and Shoonya. Whether these movies will score a duck or pile on tons... that remains to be seen.