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Be a sport

FIFA has made filmmakers take a second look at football. Result? A string of films based on sports

RUNAWAY HIT "Bend it Like Beckham"

F or some time now, our cricket-crazy nation has been looking beyond the willow. A lot of the credit goes to sportspersons such as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sania Mirza, Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal. Entertainment bigwigs, of course, have been quick to lap up the general euphoria time and again. Right now, no sport matters more than soccer. Never mind if the Indian team doesn't stand the slightest chance of having its name in the Hall of Fame now.

Indian football player Baichung Bhutia has been busy not only giving his expert football opinion on television but also to choreographer turned film-maker Ahmed Khan, who has approached him for some gyaan. Khan's forthcoming film Yahan Ke Hum Sikander features Nana Patekar as the Indian football team's coach. This film sure has competition. Shimit Amin (Ram Gopal Varma's protégé who made Ab Tak Chappan before moving on to the Yash Chopra camp) has signed Shah Rukh Khan for Chak De. SRK plays a football coach for a women's team. Meanwhile, UTV is also producing a film on football that's likely to star Saif Ali Khan.

The best film on football that most of us would look back to is Bend It Like Beckham. Do we hear you pointing out that it's not an Indian film but a U.K. production by Gurinder Chaddha? Never mind. We cheered Jasminder Kaur in her battle against making aloo paratas and instead getting downright muddy playing soccer.

There are other lesser-known Indian films as well where football has been part of the story. Remember Anil Kapoor as a goalkeeper in Saheb? More recently came Ekta Kapoor's forgettable Koi Aap Sa, starring Aftab Shivdasani as a football player.

Cashing in on the World Cup fever are also film festivals being held across the country. Malapuram in Kerala saw one such festival recently and Pune has a month-long festival.

Indian films have had periodical romances with sport but only a few have left an indelible mark. Lagaan tops the list followed closely by Iqbal. Among Telugu films, the memorable ones are Okkadu (where kabaddi was an integral part) and Sye (rugby). What we can expect from the forthcoming films is a joy ride. Knowing the box office requirements, we bet it will be a while before we see a `sport'y film that sets your grey cells ticking, on the lines of Million Dollar Baby.

SANGEETHA DEVI. K

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