Lagaan

Lagaan was a Bollywood movie that successfully combined cricket, love, entertainment and life in British occupied India. It saw success commercially and was lauded as a brilliant movie by critics.

It was promoted well by the savvy Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker making it’s presence felt overseas. It entered the Oscar race and missed to nail the Oscar but nonetheless has made it a film one will not forget in a hurry.

Aamir Khan played Bhuvan and aced the dialect and the rustic look. He is the village boy who walks into a bet with a British officer. If the villagers win no tax if they lose their tax is multiplied. And Rachel Shelley as Elizabeth coaches them. Gracy Singh is the village belle Gauri who loves him and sees his infatuation with Elizabeth as a threat. There’s a traitor in the picture but the movie ends to cheers and that’s what matters in the end.

Shilpa Shetty @ IPL

Cricket has a new celebrity cheering for it.

Shilpa Shetty has joined the IPL craze…if Preity Zinta stands for the Mohali team, Shah Rukh Khan for Kolkata Knight Riders, this year Shilpa Shetty and boyfriend Raj Kundra hold a piece of the Rajasthan Royals. The Celebrity Big Brother winner even threw in a dance number to bring cheer to her team and supporters.

SRK & Saurav Ganguly, Kolkata Knight Riders

Preity Zinta’s Cheers!

Say Salaam India

Say Salaam India is a movie, as with most sports movies, on how commitment and love for what you do is all it takes to leap over the highest hurdles.

It’s about four boys who love the game even as they play it on streets. Then on the other hand is the posh school where the cricket team boasts of talent but passion that is misplaced. Enter the coach, Hari Sadu. Soon he is shown the exit. He turns wrestlers into cricketers.  And it is the privileged versus the underpriviliged.

The movie was directed by Subhash Kapoor. Sanjay Suri played Hari Sadu with Sandhya Mridul as his wife. Milind Soman was the suave coach who steps in and takes over the school team after Sadu is thrown out.  Madhur Mittal, of the Slumdog Millionaire fame, also had  apart in this movie.

Rani & Cricket

Rani Mukerji will be re-appearing on screen as a cricketer in Aditya Chopra’s next venture about cricket aptly named Cricket. Nice and to the point.

The petite and plump actress has been losing out to younger actresses as she has put on a lot of weight.  So she is working extra hard to get rid of all that extra baggage.

Her last movie Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic with Saif Ali Khan was a dismal flop and apart from that she had only a special appearance in the hit Rab Ne Bana Di Kya Jodi.