‘Chennai 28’ to ‘Irudhi Suttru’: Here are the Tamil sports films you need to watch

It’s a season of sports this time of the year! On the other hand, Indians have been performing exceptionally well in the Commonwealth Games 2018. Due to the ongoing strike in the Tamil film industry, the audience has conveniently glued to the television to catch the latest sporting events. Here are the Tamil films in which filmmakers glorified the respective sports.

Arguably, one of the finest films based on cricket in Indian cinema. ‘Chennai 600028’ is the story you might find in almost every street in India. Telling the story of gully cricket, director Venkat Prabhu was responsible for making one of the best sports drama ever. ‘Chennai 28’ is about the story of rival street cricket teams -- Sharks and RA Puram Rockers, who battle it out at the ground. Through this, we get to see friendship, romance and betrayal that was done in a superb fashion. The film received a terrific response when it released in 2008 and became a blockbuster. Over the years, ‘Chennai 28’ has earned a cult following in Tamil cinema. A sequel to ‘Chennai 28’ hit the screens in 2016 to a mixed response from the audience. Much to everyone’s expectations, the sequel failed to recreate the magic of the first part.

This heartwarming sports drama won the hearts of the audience when it released in 2009. Set in a remote village in Tamil Nadu, ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu’ revolves around a group of youngsters who try to make it really big in the Kabaddi tournament. What’s amusing about the film is how the director showed the miserable lives of each and every player of the team and how important it was for them to win. Directed by Suseenthiran, ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu’ became very successful at the box office and was later remade in several languages. Apparently, the film was based on real-life incidents from Suseenthiran’s father’s life.

Arivazhagan is one of the most underrated directors in Tamil cinema and his films like ‘Eeram’ and ‘Vallinam’ are an example of his abilities. The story is simple: A basketball player strives hard to win an important tournament for his college. But what’s interesting about ‘Vallinam’ is how Arivazhagan makes it a compelling sports drama. The film received favorable reviews from critics and became a moderate success at the box office. ‘Vallinam’ also won the National Award for Best Editing that year.

After the commercial success of ‘Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu’, Suseenthiran once again made a sports film, but this time on the politics of cricket. The film revolves around Jeeva (Vishnu Vishal), who aspires to become a cricketer since childhood. However, he later realises that it’s not a smooth ride for him to make it big. With cricket as the base, Suseenthiran goes on to explore more on how a particular class of people get higher opportunities than the rest. It also takes a sly dig at the BCCI and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Upon release, the film opened to good reviews from critics and was a profitable venture.

After taking a sabbatical, R Madhavan made a striking comeback in Tamil with his boxing drama ‘Irudhi Suttru’, which was simultaneously released in Hindi as ‘Saala Khadoos’. Directed by Sudha Kongara, the film was celebrated by fans across the state and became extremely successful at the box office. Although the Hindi version received mixed reviews from critics. It tells the story of a former boxing coach Prabhu (Madhavan), who finds a potential boxer in a fisherwoman Madhi (Ritika Singh). He goes on to train Madhi to fulfil her desire to win the World Boxing Championship. Apart from the story, Madhavan and Ritika Singh were immensely praised for uncompromising performances in the lead roles. Ritika, a professional boxer turned actress, won Special Mention at the National Awards for her performance as Madhi. Santhosh Narayanan’s 'Ey Sandakaara' song was a smash hit after release.