Biography, particularly sports biographies, has become the most popular and well-liked genre in India.The preference of the entertainment loving audience of the country has shifted towards biographical films from the same old romantic films.
The new generation is taking an interest in all sports. There are a number of Bollywood Cricket Movies, and as other sports such as badminton, snooker, boxing and so on become more popular, we have seen many biographies being made in Bollywood other than Cricket.
We’ve compiled a list of the best Bollywood sports films, some of which are not only inspiring but also entertaining due to their climax, music, story, and cinematography. Out of these movies, some are sports biographies based on some sports legends, whereas others have sports as an important segment.
1- Marry Kom
Star Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumar
Director: Omung Kumar
Release Date: 5 Sept. 2014
The film is produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali under the banner of Bhansali Productions. The story talks about Mary Kom’s struggles, being from a poor family to become a world champion in boxing. For Priyanka, this film was the highest-grossing on its weekend as a female-led, at the time of its release.
Priyanka Chopra won the Best Actress Award for this movie on Producers Guild Film Awards. Cinematography is done by Keiko Nakahara.
2- Dangal
Star Cast: Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Zaira Wasim, Fatima Sana Shaikh
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Release Date: 23 Dec. 2016
The film is based on the Phogat family from Haryana. The story talks about a father who trains her daughter to become a world-class fighter in wrestling. Aamir Khan in the role of Father Mahavir Singh Phogat, Fatima Sana Shaikh as Geeta Phogat, and Sanya Malhotra is playing the role of Geeta’s sister, Babita Kumari.
The budget of the film was 71crore and it earned 2000 crore approx. the film broke so many records at that time from the highest-grossing Indian film to the highest-grossing sports film worldwide. The film had been watched on Chinese streaming platforms more than 400 million times.
3- Chak De! India
Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan
Director: Shimit Amin
Release Date: 10 Aug 2007
Chak De! India explores the fictional story of women’s national hockey team, where their coach Kabir (previously ostracised from Indian man hockey team due to loss from Pakistan) unite players from different state of the country and form the strongest Women’s team to lead India in world cup. The film was inspired by India’s 2002 commonwealth games victory.
Along with Shah Rukh, the film also features Vidya Malavade, Sagarika Ghatge, Chitrashi Rawat, Anjan Srivastav, and Vivan Bhatena.
4- Lagaan
Star Cast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Release Date: 15 June 2001
It is a fictional story of cricket from 1893 during the colonial British raj of India. Where the poor village people of central India had to play the game of cricket to get out of the burden of the heavy taxes levied on them by Britishers. The story and screenplay of the film were written by the director Ashutosh Gowariker.
It was the third Indian film after “Mother India” and “Salaam Bombay” to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language.
5- Soorma
Star Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Taapsee Pannu, Angad Bedi
Director: Shaad Ali
Release Date: 13 July 2018
Soorma is a biopic of Indian hockey player Sandeep Singh. The film explores the life of Sandeep Singh from being paralyzed in the lower half of his body to play for the Indian hockey national team. The film’s budget was 31crore and it made around 50 crores, makes it a commercial success at Box-office.
Diljit Dosanjh is playing the role of Sandeep Singh in the movie. Taapsee Pannu in the role of Harpreet Kaur.
6- Azhar
Star Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Lara Dutta, Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai
Director: Tony D’Souza
Release Date: 13 May 2016
Azhar is a biopic of former Indian cricket captain Mohd. Azharuddin. It talks about his story that how he overcome the allegations of match-fixing, which took his entire cricket career. The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor.
Emraan Hashmi is in the lead role of the film as Mohd. Azharuddin, Lara Dutta is playing his lawyer (Meera Verma) role, Prachi Desai as first wife (Naureen), and Nargis Fakhri as a second wife (Sangeeta).
7- Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Star Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Release Date: 12 July 2013
It is a biopic on the legendary Indian athlete late. Milkha Singh, who was a commonwealth champion and Asian games 400-meter champion two times. The movie is inspired by his book The Race of My Life which was written by him and his daughter. The film was a superhit, made a business of 200 crores at the box office.
Farhan Akhtar played the lead role of Milkha Singh and Sonam Kapoor as his love interest. It was produced under the banner of ROMP Pictures.
8- Paan Singh Tomar
Star Cast: Irrfan Khan, Mahi Gill
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Release Date: 2 March 2012
This is a biographical film on Paan Singh Tomar, who was a soldier turned rebel. The film explores his story that how he once won a gold medal at national games and why he picked weapons against the system. Irrfan won the Best Actor award at national film awards for his brilliant performance in the movie.
It was made under the banner of UTV Spotboy. The film’s budget was 7 crore and it made 21 crore approx., which makes it a super hit at the box office.
9- Iqbal
Star Cast: Shreyash Talpade, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnard, and Shweta Basu Prasad
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor
Release Date: 26 Aug. 2005
It is a fictional story about cricket, where a deaf boy from a village has a dream to play for the Indian national cricket team one day. Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev stated about the movie,” It’s a film for every family and every youngster, who wants to be an achiever, the best movie with cricket as a backdrop.”
The film won The Best Film on Other Social Issues award at the national film awards. The film’s story and screenplay are written by Nagesh Kukunoor.
10- Jannat
Star Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Sonal Chauhan
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Release Date: 16 May 2008
Jannat tells the story of an astute young guy who wants to make quick money. Further, he becomes a bookie(match-fixer) in the film to get a lot of money. The film had done a 42 crore business, which emerged as a ‘Superhit’ at the box office.
The film’s story received a positive response from the audience which was written by Sanjay Masoom. It was produced by Mukesh Bhatt under Vishesh Films.
11- Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
Star Cast: Aamir Khan, Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bedi
Director: Mansoor Khan
Release Date: 22 May 1992
The story is about a cycling race of young college-going students, where Aamir Khan as Sanjay took revenge for his brother’s (Ratan) loss from the archrival Deepak Tijori as Shekhar. The story is co-written and produced by Nasir Hussain under the banner of his own Nasir Hussain films. The film had won the Best Film award at the Filmfare Awards at that time.
12- Saala Khadoos
Star Cast: R. Madhavan, Ritika Singh
Director: Sudha Kongara
Release Date: 29 jan. 2016
Saala Khadoos is a bilingual film, The Tamil version of the film names “Irudhi Suttru” which means Final Round. This is a boxing sports film. The movie revolves around two characters R.Madhavan the coach and Ritika Singh the player. There is a remake of this film in Telugu called Guru which was released in 2017.
Ritika Singh won the National Award for her performance in the film. The movie got three Filmfare Awards also Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress awards.
13- M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story
Star Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Disha Patani, Kiara Advani, Anupam Kher
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Release Date: 30 Sept. 2016
The movie is a biopic of former Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni, it talks about the untold story of Dhoni as the title says. Sushant Singh Rajput is playing the main lead in the role of M.S Dhoni and Kiara Advani as his wife’s (Sakshi Dhoni) role.
The film was dubbed in three other languages Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi. It was produced under the banner of Fox Star Studios.
14- Kai Po Che!
Star Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao, Amit Sadh
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Release Date: 22 Feb. 2013
The story explores the lives of three best friends who want to open their own sports academy one day. The film also shows the horrific events of the 2002 Gujarat train burning and riots events. Later in the film, their friendship gets tarnished by political discussions and communal hatred. The film made a business of 83 crores which emerged as a commercial success at the box office.
15- Mukkabaaz
Star Cast: Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Jimmy Sheirgill, Ravi Kishan
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Release Date: 12 Jan. 2018
Mukkabaaz is a boxing sports film, with a love angle in it. The story talks about a village guy, who falls in love with his coach’s deaf niece, later in the movie, to gain his love he went for training in a different city, to win a fighting championship. Vineet Kumar Singh received positive reviews for his performance in the film by critics. Director Anurag Kashyap co-wrote and produced this film.
16- Sultan
Star Cast: Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Release Date: 6 July 2016
The film talks of a fictional wrestler, Sultan Ali Khan who is a former world boxing champion and left boxing due to his personal issues. Furthermore, a Pro Takedown founder knows his story and motives him to join his tournament so that after winning he could get his wife back. It’s a story based on mixed martial arts. The film’s budget was 145cr. And it made a business of 623cr. It was a super hit at the box office.
17- Brothers
Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez
Director: Karan Malhotra
Release Date: 14 Aug. 2015
Brothers revolve around two brothers rivalry who at the end founds themselves in a mixed martial art’s tournament to show each other, who is better between them. The movie is based on a Hollywood movie called warriors which was released in 2011. Akshay Kumar is playing the role of David Fernandes and Sidharth Malhotra as his younger brother Monty Fernandes.
18- Gold
Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Amit Sadh
Director: Reema Kagti
Release Date: 15 Aug. 2018
Gold explores the events of India’s first hockey team’s winning gold medal journey at the summer Olympics in 1948. Star Tv actress Mouni Roy was the debutant in the film. The total business of the film was 158 crore. Akshay Kumar in the role of Tapan Das, who won the first medal for India in the 1948 Olympics.
19- Apne
Star Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty, Kirron Kher
Director: Anil Sharma
Release Date: 29 June 2007
The film revolves around a family whose all-male members are related to boxing. It’s a sports drama film related to boxing. Where Sunny Deol is playing the role of the elder son, Bobby Deol as his younger brother, and Dharmendra as their Dad’s role. Music is given by Himesh Reshammiya in the film Apne.
20- Patiala house
Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma, Rishi Kapoor
Director: Nikkhil Advani
Release Date: 11 Feb. 2011
Patiala House is loosely based on former England star spinner Monty Panesar’s life. It is a sports drama film related to the game of cricket. It was a commercial success at the box office. Music is given by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Akshay Kumar is playing the lead role in the movie as Parghatt Singh Kahlon aka Gattu.
21- Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal
Star Cast: Arshad Warsi, John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Boma Irani
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Release Date: 23 Nov. 2007
This film is highly underrated, neither the IMDb rating nor the box office collection did justice to the film. Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal explores the story of the South Asian community-based in the UK. A sports Drama film related to football. The movie is produced by Ronnie Screwvala Under the banner of UTV Motion pictures.
22- Panga
Star Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Jassi Gill
Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Release Date: 24 Jan. 2020
Panga tells the story of a woman former kabaddi champion, who left the sport because of her marriage, later in the movie through his husband and son’s advice she again joins the kabaddi team. The film talks about her comeback to the team. Kangana Ranaut won the National Award for her performance in the film. It was her fourth National Award overall.
23- Chamatkar
Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Urmila Matondkar
Director: Rajiv Mehra
Release Date: 8 July 1992
The film is made under the banner of Eagle Films. It was Shah Rukh Khan’s first film as a lead actor. The movie revolves around a village boy, who comes to Mumbai due to his financial problem, he joins a cricket team as a coach. Music is given by Anu Malik in the film and produced by Pravesh C. Mehra.
24- Toofan
Star Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Mrunal Thakur, Paresh Rawal
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Release Date: 16 July 2021
It is a sports drama film related to boxing. The story talks about a profiteer guy who extorts people to gain money and fights them in the street if they don’t pay him, due to some circumstances later he joined a boxing club to become a national level fighter. It is a second film of the hit partners Farhan and Rakeysh Mehra after the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
25- Saand Ki Aankh
Star Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Praksh Jha
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Release Date: 25 Oct. 2019
Sand Ki Aankh is a biopic film based on two female shooters of India Chandro Tomar and Prakashi Tomar. The critics praised the feminist theme of the movie, along with the two actresses Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar’s amazing performance in the film. Taapsee Pannu is playing the role of Prakashi Tomar and Bhumi Pednekar as in the role of Chandro Tomar.
26- Sachin: A Billion Dreams
Star Cast: Sachin Tendulkar
Director: James Erskine
Release Date: 26 May 2017
This film needs no introduction as it is about the God of Cricket himself, featuring M.S. Dhoni and Virendra Sehwag, who are the cherry on top in this biographical film of Sachin Tendulkar. If you are a cricket fan, you can’t miss this legendary biopic. It is produced under the banner of 200 NotOut Productions and Carnival Motion Pictures. The music is composed by A.R. Rehman.
27- Saina
Star Cast: Parineeti Chopra, Manav Kaul, Eshan Naqvi, and Meghna Malik
Director: Amole Gupte
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Saina is based on the life of India’s star badminton player Saina Nehwal, who made the country proud by winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sujay Jalraj, and Rashesh Shah under the banners of T-Series Films and Front Foot Pictures. Actress Parineeti Chopra plays the titular role in the film.
28- Jersey
Star Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Pankaj Kapur,
Director: Gowtam Tinnanuri
Release Date: April 22, 2022
This sports drama film stars Shahid Kapoor Jersey is the Hindi remake of the 2019 Telugu film of the same name. In the film, Shahid played a talented cricketer, Aditya Talwar, who didn’t get a chance to play for Team India but decided to return to cricket in his late thirties with a desire to play for the country to fulfil his son’s wish for a jersey as a gift. Actress Mrunal Thakur plays his wife in the movie.
29- Jhund
Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ankush Gedam, Akash Thosar, Rinku Rajguru
Director: Vijay Barse
Release Date: March 4, 2022
Produced by T-Series Films, Tandav Films Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Aatpaat Films, Jhund is a biographical sports drama film based on the life of Vijay Barse, the founder of NGO Slum Soccer. Amitabh Bachchan plays Barse’s character in the film, which features his effort to promote football by training players from slum areas.
30- Shabaash Mithu
Star Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Mumtaz Sorcar, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Devadarshini
Director: Srijit Mukherji
Release Date: July 15, 2022
The Taapsee Pannu starrer Shabaash Mithu is based on the life of Indian cricket legend Mithali Raj, the former Test and ODI captain of the Indian women’s national cricket team.
It is produced by Viacom18 Studios and Colosceum Media. However, the film didn’t perform well at the box office, despite receiving positive reviews and high praise for Taapsee Pannu’s portrayal of Mithali Raj.
31- Rashmi Rocket
Star Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Priyanshu Painyuli, Abhishek Banerjee, Shweta Tripathi, Supriya Pathak, Manoj Joshi
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Taapsee Pannu’s another sports drama film is Rashmi Rocket, in which she plays Rashmi Chibber, a.k.a. Rashmi Rocket, a prominent track and field athlete from Kutch, Gujarat.
The film is about several sportswomen in the country who were subject to gender testing due to being diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, such as Pinki Pramanik and Dutee Chand, etc. The film premiered directly on Zee5 on October 15, 2021.
31- 83
Star Cast: Ranveer Singh, Jiiva, Pankaj Tripathi, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Saqib Saleem, Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk
Director: Kabir Khan
Release Date: December 24, 2021
The biographical drama film is based on the historic moment of the 1983 Cricket World Cup, when the Indian national cricket team lifted the trophy for the first time under the captaincy of cricket legend Kapil Dev.
Although it had a big budget and big hype, the film underperformed at the box office, but it received critical acclaim for the performances of the cast. Apart from that, it also won several awards and nominations at prestigious film events such as the 67th Filmfare Awards, winning the most (14) nominations and two awards.
32- Toolsidas Junior
Star Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Rajiv Kapoor, Dilip Tahil, Varun Buddhadev, Chinmai Chandranshuh
Director: Mridul Mahendra
Release Date: May 21, 2022
The coming-of-age sports drama film is the last movie of prominent actor Rajeev Kapoor, who played the role of Toolsidas in the film. It is jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under T-Series Films, along with Sunita Gowarikar and co-screenwriter Ashutosh Gowarikar.
The film featured Rajiv Kapoor as a snooker player who lost an important match against his rival. Later, his son Midi (Varun Buddhadev) decides to fulfil his dream and gets trained under former snooker national level champion Mohammad Salaam, played by Sanjay Dutt.
