From football to cricket, tennis to kabaddi, sports have transcended the boundaries of countries and piqued the interest of folks across the globe. The massive fandom that various types of sports, as well as sporting personalities, enjoy remains unparalleled, to date, and it is this rising intrigue about sporting events and personalities among the masses that has caught the eye of filmmakers globally, even in India, to churn out sports films, documentaries and docuseries, in contemporary times. While the audience is spoilt with choices to select from, here’s a list of the five best Indian sports docuseries that will instill the spirit of patriotism in you:
Break Point
Directed by National Film Award-winning filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, along with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, ‘Break Point’ is a tennis docuseries that was released in 2021. The Zee5 Original follows the extraordinary journey and partnership of Indian tennis legends – Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. From their spectacular ascension to their astonishing split, Break Point is the story of these former tennis players’ ambition, hard work, belief, success, friendship, partnership and conflict! The docuseries is available to stream in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages.
Bandon Mein Tha Dum
Helmed by the director of ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’, Neeraj Pandey, ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’ is a special event series that is slated to premiere exclusively on Voot Select on 16th June 2022. The four-part series traces a young and relatively under-experienced Indian cricket team’s quest to defeat the world’s no.1 Test side on their home soil, against all odds, in the 2020/21 India tour of Australia. Bandon Mein Tha Dum showcases how Team India overcame severe injuries, COVID-19 restrictions, quarantine regulations and controversies, to emerge victorious and bring home the ‘Border-Gavaskar Trophy’ in one of their most historic Test wins ever!
Umeed India
‘Umeed India’ is a sports docuseries that is based on Indian Olympians who represented the country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Narrated by legendary Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag, the fourteen-part docuseries boasts of inspirational stories of diversified and intrepid Indian athletes aiming for glory at the 2020 Summer Olympics, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Shiva Thappa and Sanjeev Kumar, among many others. Umeed India follows Sehwag as he travels to these athletes' training bases, chronicling moments of their journey and meeting those who put their heart and soul into ensuring their success.
Sons of the Soil: Jaipur Pink Panthers
Produced by BBC Studios India, ‘Sons of the Soil: Jaipur Pink Panthers’ is a sports docuseries that focuses on the Abhishek Bachchan-owned kabaddi team Jaipur Pink Panthers’ run in the seventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League. Alongside Abhishek, the five-episodic series features Bunty Walia, Sandeep Dhull, Amit Hooda, Deepak Hooda, Deepak Narwal, Nitin Rawal, Saurabh Mishra, Srinivas Reddy and Nilesh Salunke. This Alex Gale and Omkar Potdar directorial delves into the players' personal as well as professional journeys throughout the 2018-19 season of PKL.
Roar of the Lion
'Roar of the Lion' is a multilingual cricket docuseries that is written by Amardeep Galsin and directed by Amir Rizvi, featuring M.S. Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo, to name a few. This Hotstar Specials series revolves around the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, who returned to the 2018 edition of the fan-favourite T20 cricket league after facing a two-year ban owing to the 2013 spot-fixing scandal. Spanning five episodes, Roar of the Lion is available to stream on Disney+Hotstar in Hindi and Tamil languages.
Watch Bandon Mein Tha Dum and other sports docuseries to witness best-in-class sports like never before!
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