Sultan, Mary Kom, Chak De India: Films that Celebrate Sportswomen!

Bollywood often finds one particular subject at a time and gets hooked on to it. There was a time when the films with the patriotic subject were ruling the B-Town and recently, it’s the biopics which the filmmakers are hooked to and interestingly, all are based on the lives of a sportsperson. We have A-listers actors essaying the role of MS Dhoni to Milkha Singh. However, there are a few directors who brave the subject of making a film on the lives of a female sportsperson, or highlighting the lives and struggles of a female athlete.

We decided to list five such films who celebrate the sportswomen and the sport they play, in all its glory:

Priyanka Chopra in Mary Kom

When Priyanka donned the boxing gloves to reprise the inspiring of Olympian boxer Mary Kom on celluloid, the results were spot on. PeeCee underwent a startling physical transformation for her role – she worked out for months to get an athletic body and learnt the boxing too!  PeeCee certainly packed some power-packed punches and fans and critics loved her stellar act to T.

Ritika Singh in Saala Khadoos

Here, it was the boxer-turned-actress, who essayed the role of an aspiring boxer in the film. A national-level kickboxer, Ritika’s role was much appreciated by the masses. What more can we say, the actress bagged this year’s National Award in ‘Special Mention for Performance’ category by the jury.

Chak De! Girls…

While Chak De won SRK heaps of praises for his hard-hitting portrayal of the coach of Women’s India Hockey Team, what also won the hearts of the audience was the film’s subject line. No, it wasn’t about just highlighting our National sport- it was about shedding light on the status of Women’s Hockey condition in the nation. The film dealt with the subject of sexism in contemporary India in a fictional story about the Indian women's national field hockey team which was inspired by the team's win at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

In the upcoming months, we have two eagerly awaited films under the same category:

Anushka Sharma in Sultan

Since the teaser of the film is out, Anushka Sharma has been receiving rave reviews. The lady is seen kicking some serious butts and her dhobi pachaad moves are just unmissable. The film which is yet to release, looks promising, as Anushka will be seen essaying the role of a wrestler from Haryana.  Recently, the actress the lovely actress spoke about her role in the movie and how she prepared for it. Anushka said, "I had to do through intense  body training to build definition and muscle. I am not heavily built so I knew I was working with a disadvantage. I had to beat peoples' perception that all wrestlers are huge.”

Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra in Dangal

Though the film stars Aamir Khan portraying the role of Mahavir Singh Phogat who taught wrestling to his daughters Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat, it technically will highlight the journey of the Phogat sisters. Actress Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra will essay the key roles of Geeta & Babita.

Geeta Phogat was India's first female wrestler to win at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where she won the gold medal (55 kg) while her sister Babita Kumari won the silver (51 kg).

With these impressive films in the pipeline and a few which have released - as audience such films certainly make us hopeful to look ahead for good cinema – which propagates not only the sports but the journeys of the female sportsperson in India.