Sports-based dramas or entertainers are very popular across the globe, be it the US, India, Middle East or anywhere else. The genre has enjoyed a very good success rate at the box office and that is the reason movies based on games, sporting events, sports personalities are churned regularly. This year everyone saw a lot of riveting sports entertainers from the comforts of their homes due to the pandemic. However, as the miserable virus gradually retreats from our lives and cinema theatres across the countries slowly reopen there will be a plethora of sport-based sagas waiting to hit the screens. So, it is time to find out what is in store for movie lovers in terms of sports movies for the theatre experience.
American Underdog – English (Dec 2021)
This happens to be the fascinating journey of Kurt Warner, National Football League superstar, and his transition from a grocery store helper to a two-time most valuable player of the NFL and the king of the Super Bowl. The movie has already created a lot of buzz among cinephiles and it is being directed by John Erwin and Andrew Erwin. Zachary Levi plays Kurt Warner and he is ably supported by Dennis Quaid, Virgina Madsen and others in the movie.
King Richard – English (November 2021)
The movie depicts the story of Richard Williams, who helps two of his daughters, Serena and Venus Williams, to rule the Tennis courts for several years by defying rigid and regressive societal norms. The movie is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and stars Will Smith in the title role, Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams, Demi Singleton as Serena Williams and other actors.
Shabaash Mithu – Hindi (To Be Announced)
There have been several movies on cricket and cricketers but this movie dwells into the fabulous life of the most prolific women cricketer of our times, Mithali Raj. Raj was born into a Tamil family and it would be interesting to watch the tale of this gutsy South Indian woman cricketer, with most number runs in international women cricket, unfolds in front of our eyes. The movie is directed by Rahul Dholakia and stars Taapsee Pannu as Mithali Raj.
Jersey – Hindi (To Be Announced)
Another cricket flick, however, the movie, at heart, is an emotional story of a father and a son, where the former tries hard to reclaim the lost glory for the sake of the latter. This is the remake of a Nani-starrer Telugu movie with the same title. The movie is directed by Goutam Tinnanauri, who helmed the original as well, and stars Shahid Kapoor in the lead with Mrinal Thakur and others as part of the supporting cast.
83 – Hindi (To Be Announced)
It seems cricket is currently the toast of Bollywood as this is another film revolving around the sport. The movie showcases the transformation of a bunch of rag-tag cricketers, led by the “Haryana Hurricane” Kapil Dev, into world-class performers, who eventually stun the mighty Windies to lift the coveted World Cup in the year 1983. It stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, Deepika Padukone as Kapil’s wife, Tahir Raj Bhasin as Sunil Gavaskar etc and is directed by the hit filmmaker Kabir Khan.
Liger – Telugu-Hindi Bilingual (Next Year)
This is a romantic sports drama and it primarily deals with the story of a kickboxer with a speech impediment. The film promises some stupendous martial arts sequences for which the hero went to Thailand to train himself. Written and directed by Puri Jagannath, the movie has an impressive star cast comprising Vijay Devarakonda (Arjun Reddy fame), Ananya Pandey, Ronit Roy, Ramya Krishnan etc.
Muddy – Multilingual (Next Year)
This is a special film as it is India’s first-of-a-kind “off-road mud race flick”. The movie has got on board some of the finest technicians in India who have worked on some big-budget entertainers of the south Indian film industry. The adventurous and thrilling ride is directed by Pragabhal and its star cast includes Yuvan, Ridhaan Krishna, Suresh Anusha, Renji Panicker etc. The film will release in five languages: Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
Biopic on Saurav Ganguly – Hindi (To Be Announced)
It is still early days but when Saurav Ganguly announced through Twitter that his story would be told through a movie, cine-goers could not contain their excitement. Unarguably one of the finest captains of the Indian Cricket team, the Prince of Kolkata’s fascinating odyssey that changed the face of Indian cricket forever deserved to be captured in a full-fledged feature film. It is being reported that Ranbir Kapoor will be stepping into the shoes of the “Dada” for the film.
