Female sportspersons have been Bollywood’s muse in the last few years. This year too, it has set the ball rolling with filmmaker Amol Gupte releasing the biographical film Saina based on badminton player Saina Nehwal’s life. Another film, on the Indian women’s cricket team’s captain Mithali Raj’s biopic, ‘Shabaash Mithu’ is in the offing. There are other sports-based films lined up including ‘Liger’ and ‘Jersey.’
Needless to say, these movies are an inspiration to young girls and women wanting to take up sports as a full-time profession. Here is a list of films based on real life successful Indian sportswomen.
Chak De India (2017)
The plot revolves around the Indian Women’s Hockey team which fights against all odds and fights misogyny to win the Women’s Hockey World Cup. The movie was a wake-up call for the society which thinks that firstly, sports and especially some are only for men.
Saand Ki Aankh (2019)
This movie is based on octogenarian sharpshooter duo Chandro Tomar (Shooter Dadi) and Prakashi Tomar (Revolver Dadi) from Uttar Pradesh’s Johri village. The film shows how these two women encouraged other women in the country by showcasing their sharpshooting skills at the age of 60. Chandro Tomar has won more than 30 national championships since 1999 when she was already in her 60s. Prakashi has more than 25 national and international championships in her bag.
This biographical film on boxer Mary Kom was a super-duper hit with Priyanka Chopra playing the titular role. Directed by Omung Kumar, it shows Mary Kom’s journey of becoming a boxer and captures her life events till the 2008 World Boxing Championship in Ningbo.
Dangal (2016)
This movie took inspiration from the Phogat family of wrestlers in Haryana and focuses on its two stars, Geeta and Babita Phogat. Babita won the gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She also bagged a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships. Meanwhile, her sister Geeta won the first-ever gold medal in wrestling for India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
This 2009 movie made under the banner of Yash Raj Films was about a Punjabi village girl Veera played by Rani Mukherjee who dreams of becoming a cricket player. She disguises herself as a boy to enter a cricket team.
