Ahead of release of Saina, a look at sports biopics over the years 


As Saina, the biopic on the life of Badminton player Saina Nehwal gets ready for release on March 26  , a look at some of the sports biopics made in Bollywood over the years that are worth a watch.


Patiala House(2011)


Directed by Nikkhil Advani and starring Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Akshay Kumar and Anushka Sharma in the lead roles, Patiala House was a sports drama losely inspired by life of England fast bowler Monty Panesar.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Mukesh Talreja, Krishan Kumar and Twinkle Khanna under the banner of People Tree Films, Credence Motion Pictures and Hari Om Entertainment, Patiala House revolves around Parghat Singh Kahlon alias Gattu / Kaali (Akshay Kumar), who is living the life his father Gurtej Singh Kahlon (Rishi Kapoor) chose for him. Gattu had been good at cricket and wanted to play for England though Gurtej would never let him become a member of the England team. 

Patiala House (2011) was inspired by life of England fast bowler Monty Panesar 



After .Gattu gets another chance to fulfil his dream , his siblings convince him to give it a shot. As he gets on the team, they hide the fact that Gattu is on the team but Gurtej eventually finds out. Seeing his son on a team gives Gurtej a heart attack . Eventually, Gurtej realizes his mistake and is proud on achievement of his son.

The film met with a mixed response from the audiences and film critics.


Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)


Bhaag Milkha bhaag was based on the life of India's Commonwealth Champion and 400m Asian champion and an Olympian athlete Milkha Singh.

Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra from a script written by Prasoon Joshi. Bhaag Milkha bhaag starred  Farhan Akhtar in the titular role with Sonam K Ahuja, Divya Dutta, Meesha Shafi, Pavan Malhotra, Yograj Singh, Art Malik and Prakash Raj in supporting roles. 

Bhaag Milkha bhaag was based on life of Milkha Singh 




Bhaag Milkha Bhaag garnered acclaim from critics as well as audiences . Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is the sixth highest grossing 2013 Bollywood film worldwide and became the 21st film to gross Rs 100 crore.

Mary Kom(2014)


The film was based on life of India's boxing champion Mary Kom.

Directed by Omung Kumar and produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mary Kom starred Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, with newcomer Darshan Kumar and Sunil Thapa in supporting roles of her husband and mentor, respectively. Mary Kom depicts Mary Kom's journey of becoming a boxer to her victory at the 2008 World Boxing Championships in Ningbo.

The film won box office success and critical acclaim for Priyanka Chopra's performance.

The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, becoming the first Hindi film to be screened on the opening night of the festival. Mary Kom is also ranked among the highest-grossing Indian films led by a female actor.

Mary Kom received several accolades at award ceremonies across India. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.


Dangal (2016)


Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Aamir Khan, under his studio Aamir Khan Productions with UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures India, Dangal was based on life of  Mahavir Singh Phogat, a pehlwani amateur wrestler who trains his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to become India's first world-class female wrestlers.

Dangal was inspired by life of Indian wrestler 

Mahavir Singh Phogat 



The film featured Aamir Khan as Mahavir Phogat .  Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra played the adult versions of the two Phogat sisters while Zaira Wasim and Suhani Bhatnagar their younger versions.  Sakshi Tanwar played wife of Mahavir Phogat and Aparshakti Khurana their cousin.

Released worldwide on December 23, 2016, Dangal received positive reviews from audiences as well as film critics in India and abroad.

At the 62nd Filmfare Awards, it won four awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Aamir Khan) and Best Action (Shyam).

The film also featured for Zaira Wasim award for Best Supporting Actress at the 64th National Film Awards for her portrayal of Geeta's younger self.
Dangal  also won the inaugural Best Asian Film award at Australia's 7th AACTA Awards. It also won Best Foreign Film award and Top Foreign Actor (for Aamir Khan) at China's Douban Film Awards. The film was nominated in the Asian Brilliant Stars category at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.

The film was a huge commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film ever, the fifth highest grossing non-English film ever and the highest-grossing sports film worldwide.

 

 M S Dhoni The Untold Story (2016)


The film is based on the life of former Test, ODI and T 20  captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Written and Directed by Neeraj Pandey, M S Dhoni the Untold Story stars Sushant Singh Rajput as Dhoni, along with Disha Patani, Kiara Advani, and Anupam Kher.

A still from M   S Dhoni The Untold Story 



 

The film chronicles the life of Dhoni from a young age to becoming the captain of the Indian cricket team .

Released on September 30 2016 by Fox Star Studios,  M S Dhoni The Untold Story received the widest release ever for a Bollywood film across 61 countries. In addition to being released in Hindi language, it was also dubbed in Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi languages, although the Marathi release was later cancelled due to opposition.

The film won commercial success as well as critical acclaim .

Azhar(2016)

Produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor for Sony Pictures Networks and  directed by Tony D'Souza, Azhar was inspired from the life of former captain of the Indian team  Mohammad Azharuddin. It featured Emraan Hashmi in the titular role and Nargis Fakhri , Prachi Desai and Lara Dutta in key roles.

Azhar(2016) was inspired by life of former India's cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin 




The film met with moderate success at the box office. It was also criticized for its fictional interpretation of events.

Soorma(2018)

Soorma was inspired from  the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh. Directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Sony Pictures Networks India and C.S. Films, the film stars Diljit Dosanjh, Angad Bedi and Taapsee Pannu in lead roles.

Soorma was inspired from the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh 



The film was a commercial success though it received mixed reviews from critics.

Gold(2018)



Written and directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, Gold was based on the journey of India's first national hockey team to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

A still from Gold (2018)




It revolved around Tapan Das, the manager of the Indian Hickey team and the man who won India its first gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics.

The film starred  Akshay Kumar as Tapan Das,  Mouni Roy as his wife besides featuring Amit Sadh, Vineet Kumar Singh, Kunal Kapoor, Sunny Kaushal and Nikita Dutta  in supporting roles.

The film was a commercial success and also won critical acclaim. Gold also became the first Bollywood film to be released in Saudi Arabia.

Saina (2021) 



Saina, which features Parineeti Chopra in the titular role of India's badminton medallist Saina Nehwal,  releases in cinemas on March 26.



A poster of Saina 





Ahead of release of Saina,  Parineeti Chopra had released a behind the scenes video clip talking about her journey to become Saina 





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