Sports choreographers hit bullseye in Bollywood

Chak De! India (2007) is the first name that crops up when talking about sports-related films in India. But before it attained cult status, the making of the film was a humongous task for director Shimit Amin, who wanted it to be as authentic as possible. And that’s how international sports choreographer Rob Miller came into the picture.

Rob went on to do films such as Dil Bole Hadippa (2009), Student of the Year (2012), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), Mary Kom (2014), The Zoya Factor (2019), while up next are Jungle Cry and ’83.

Actor Tahir Raj Bhasin, who is essaying the role of cricketer Sunil Gavaskar in ’83 which is about India’s first cricket World Cup victory, in 1983, says, “Playing cricket is one thing and shooting cricket scenes is a very different skill. And for ’83, we worked very closely with Palvinder Singh Sandhu who brought the cricket skills and Rob Miller who helped us blend our ability to play the sport and act as a sportsperson on screen.”

Since then, Bollywood has opened its doors to many other international sports choreographers. Aimee McDaniel worked in director Reema Kagti’s Gold (2018), based on Kishan Lal who helped India win its first hockey gold, in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Professional boxer and sports choreographer Darrell Foster is on board for director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s next, Toofan, starring Farhan Akhtar. “He (Darrell Foster) has worked in films such as Ali (2001) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003). With sports choreographers, I feel it all comes down to teamwork. It all depends on what you want to achieve and at what level. And what you are trying to show in the movie,” Mehra says.

Darshan Kumar, who has starred in Mary Kom and will now be seen in Toofan, says,

“For two months, we used to train for eight-nine hours for boxing. We used to do retake after retake to get the right body language on screen. It is fun to do such challenging parts.”

Other films that will feature the works of international choreographers include Saina, a biopic on badminton star Saina Nehwal and cricketbased film Jersey, starring Shahid Kapoor.

While some filmmakers hire professional sports choreographers, Dangal (2016) and Chhichhore director Nitesh Tiwari says Indian coaches and sportspersons work best. “What I seek is authenticity in the storyline. For instance, Dangal showcased an international level of wrestling whereas Chhichhore had college-level sports. And for both, we hired professional players and coaches to train the actors; while action director Sham Kaushal helped us with the sports scene,” he says.

However, Mehra points out, “There are two things when it comes to making a sports film – knowing the game and knowing cinema. It is the question of the right time for the right job. With the rise in the number of sports films, there is a need for more sports choreographers.”

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