When cricket made money for Bollywood

For the average Indian, two sources of entertainment outshine most others -- Movies and Cricket.

Imagine then, if they come together!

The world of cricket has, in fact, woven dreams in Bollywood too, in quite a few films.

But are they popular at the box office? Joginder Tuteja finds out.

The Zoya Factor

Based on Anuja Chauhan's novel, The Zoya Factor sees Sonam Kapoor turn *really* lucky for the Indian cricket team, captained by Dulquer Salmaan.

The film is about a unique romance set against the cricket World Cup.

'83

Ranveer Singh plays Kapil Dev in '83, a Kabir Khan film based on India's historic World Cup win in 1983.

It's the first film in which Ranveer and Deepika Padukone pair up on screen since their marriage.

All eyes are on this 2020 release.

Lagaan
Box office collection: Rs 30 crore

Ashutosh Gowariker set his film in the pre-independence era and cast Aamir Khan as the only star in an ensemble set-up.

Lagaan was a big hit and went on to grab an Oscar nomination.

• The Rediff Review

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story
Box office collection: Rs 133.50 crore

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story brought in a lot of audiences and opened huge at the box office.

Based on the life and times of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this Neeraj Pandey film got good reviews as well, as Sushant Singh Rajput did justice to the title role.

• The Rediff Review

Patiala House
Box office collection: Rs 31 crore

With racism as its central element, this Director Nikkhil Advani deserved to cover a good distance but unfortunately, went unnoticed.

Akshay Kumar featured as an Indian cricketer in this film set in the UK.

• The Rediff Review

Iqbal
Box office collection: Rs 4.50 crore

Nagesh Kukunoor directs a sensitive tale in Iqbal, where Shreyas Talpade plays a mute aspiring cricketer, coached by an alcoholic Naseeruddin Shah.

A small film with a big heart, Iqbal went on to win critical acclaim as well as commercial success in times when multiplex cinema was starting to find its feet.

• The Rediff Review

Ferrari Ki Sawaari
Box office collection: Rs 32 crore

Rajesh Mapuskar's Ferrari Ki Sawaari is a slice-of-life film about a father, who steals a Ferrari to fulfill his son's dream of playing at Lord's cricket ground.

Later, he finds out that the car he stole belongs to Sachin Tendulkar.

Starring Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and Ritvik Sahore, the film went on to become a surprise success commercially.

• The Rediff Review

Sachin: A Billion Dreams
Box office collection: Rs 51 crore

There are very few documentaries that come from the film industry, which find a theatrical release.

Sachin: A Billion Dreams tells the story of the world's superstar cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.

The film fared decently even though given the man in question, it deserved a bigger release.

• The Rediff Review

Azhar
Box office collection: Rs 33 crore

Emraan Hashmi played the title role in this Tony D'Souza biopic of India's former skipper, Mohammed Azharuddin.

While it aimed to tell Azhar's story, as its core, the film tried to clear his name from the match-fixing scandal.

The film could not cover much distance.

• The Rediff Review

Jannat
Box office collection: Rs 32 crore

Before he played Azhar, Emraan Hashmi actually played an agent involved in match-fixing in Jannat.

Powered by chartbuster music, this Kunal Deshmukh directed film was well made too and found a lot of love from the audience.

An out and out commercial masala affair, it spun a sequel too.

• The Rediff Review