Top 10 Indian sports movies of all time

Indians are crazy about movies and sports. It's not surprising then thatmovie-makers in the countryhave often experimented with the topic of sports in their films.While some movies did well at the box office some miserably failed. The most recent case of this phenomenon is the completion of the movie 'Hawaa Hawaai', which is the world's first film based on skating.As we get set to regale ourselves with another sports movie which will hit the theatres soon, here's a look back at the top 10 Indian sports movies of all time.

#10 Dil Bole Hadippa

This Yashraj banner film was directed by Anurag Singh and featured Shahid Kapoor and Rani Mukherji. Rani Mukherji portrays the role of a young woman who pretends to be a man to join an all-male cricket team.

The movie was loosely inspired from 2006 Hollywood film She's the Man, which is itself adapted from Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. While the movie was heavy on the cheese factor and typical Bollywood masala, it appealed to certain moviegoers for its cricket theme.

#9 Ferrari ki Sawaari

This was a sports comedy movie directed by Rajesh Mapuskar. The movie released in 2012 and starred Boman Irani and Sharman Joshi. The story is about a little boy named Kayo (Ritvik Sahore) who thinks of nothing but playing cricket. His father, Rusy (Sharman Joshi), thinks of only about his little boy. To fulfill his son's dream of playing at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, the honest and upright Rusy performs his first small act of dishonesty - he borrows the gleaming red Ferrari owned by Sachin Tendulkar, for one day. The only problem is he doesn't inform its owner. As the Ferrari zooms through this chaotic world of street-thugs and mass-weddings, another saga unfolds – a grumpy old man and his secret wounds, and an epic rivalry that goes back 38 years.

#8 Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

The only Indian movie made on football, Dhan Dhana Dhan goal starred John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Bipasha Basu. The story revolved around a South Asian community in England who have their own professional football team. The movie was produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by Vivek Agnihotri for UTV Motion Pictures.

#7 Striker

Striker is an action-drama film written, directed and produced by Chandan Arora. It stars Siddharth, Padmapriya, Vidya Malvade, Nicolette Bird, Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas and Aditya Pancholi. The movie premiered on YouTube to become the first ever Indian film to premiere on YouTube internationally on the same day as its domestic theatrical release.

The movie is about a boy named Surya and his passion for carrom.

#6 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is based on the real life of "The Flying Sikh" Milkha Singh, an Indian athlete who was a national champion runner and an Olympian.

The film has been produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on a script written by Prasoon Joshi, with sports action by Rob Miller of ReelSports. The film stars Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Divya Dutta, Pavan Malhotra, Meesha Shafi and Yograj Singh. It earned numerous plaudits for its true-to-life rendition of the great champion's experiences, and won a bucketful of awards too.

#5 Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was a sports drama film directed by Mansoor Khan. The film starred Aamir Khan, Pooja Bedi, Ayesha Jhulka and Deepak Tijori in the lead roles. Based around the sport of cycling, the movie was laden with heavy doses of Bollywood masala, but it appealed to the emotions of the audience. The film won the Filmfare award for best movie that year.

#4 Iqbal

The movie revolves around a deaf and dumb cricket-obsessed village boy named Iqbal. The boy aims to overcome his difficulties and become a cricketer and fulfill his dream of playing for the Indian national cricket team. The protagonist's role was played by Shreyas Talpade, and he received a lot of critical acclaim for the portrayal. Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev appeared in this movie too, in a cameo role.

#3 Chak de! India

Directed by Shimit Amin, Chak de! India captured the imagination of the Indian masses in a way that few other movies have ever done. The movie starred Shah Rukh Khan who played the role of Kabir Khan, an ex-Indian hockey player and the coach of Indian women’s hockey team. Chak De! India was critically acclaimed too and went on to win numerous 'Best Film' awards including the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

#2 Paan Singh Tomar

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Paan Singh Tomar is based on the true story of the athlete Paan Singh Tomar who served the Indian Army and won a gold medal at Indian National Games, but was forced to become a notorious bandit. Irrfan Khan played the protagonist role, with Mahie Gill, Vipin Sharma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in supporting roles.

The film garnered tremendous critical acclaim and won the National award for best film as well as best actor.

#1 Lagaan

This Aamir Khan starrer became only the third Indian film to be nominated for the Oscars. The movie features Gracy Singh as the female lead, while British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne play the supporting roles.

The film is set in the Victorian period of India's colonial British Raj and revolves around villagers who are oppressed by high taxes imposed by the British rulers. They attempt to persuade the British officers to reduce the taxes, but the Britishers offered them a wager: if the village team beats a British team in a game of cricket, their taxes for three years would be cancelled. After accepting this bet, the villagers face the arduous task of learning an alien game and playing for a result that could change their village's destiny.

With an emotionally appealing subject and a focus on India's favourite sport - cricket - Lagaan did fabulously well at the box office and also earned plenty of plaudits from the critics.