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Journalism of Courage
Just a few years ago,it would have been almost impossible to imagine a lead actor of a Bollywood filmfamously seen in larger-than-life avatarsturn a small-town carom player,as is the case in Striker. Or,the protagonists of a big-budget project,like Teen Patti,use up most of their screen time playing cards. Another forthcoming film,Lahore,has a kickboxer as the lead actor. This is a clear indication that not only has Bollywood graduated to unconventional heroes but has also shifted its focus to games which have rarely enjoyed cinematic glory.
Sports like boxing and wrestling have always been a neglected area in cinema and even in society. It is only after Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumars Olympic victories that these two sports have gained some recognition. With cinema and sports being the essentials of entertainment in India,I decided to combine the two, says Sanjay Puransingh Chauhan,director of Lahore,which is being distributed by Warner Bros Pictures.
Traditionally,sports-based Hindi films have been major flops,though Lagaan and Chak De! India are two exceptions. Films like Saaheb,Boxer,Meerabai Not Out,Awwal Number and Dhan Dana Dan Goal have been major box-office duds. So why do filmmakers keep going back to the formula which has failed so many times. Leena Yadav,director of Teen Patti feels that a sport or game is used as a background because it correlates with life. In Teen Patti,cards are used as a measure of gambling. And gambling pretty much represents a persons life. Just like gambling has its highs and lows; so does life.
As many would agree,most films relied heavily on popular sports in the past and ignored the lesser-known ones which have played an important part in our childhood. Thats the reason Chandan Arora,director of Striker,chose a carom player as the main character of his film. We have all played carom while growing up.
Even though carom as a game is so common in the underbelly of the country,it has not gained the popularity that it should have. Its a great indoor sport and every player has an equal chance of winning the game on his/her day and thats what made Strikers story so intriguing.
However,Arora clarifies that this is not essentially a game-centric film. It is a story of a boy who happens to be a carom player who lives in a Mumbai ghetto in the 80s. As Yadav puts it,you cannot segregate sports-based films. Even sports-centric films have human emotions as the foundation.
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