‘Million Dollar Baby,' ‘Escape to Victory,' ‘Chariots of Fire,' ‘Coach Carter,' ‘Friday Night Lights,' ‘The Longest Yard,' ‘The Bad News Bears,' ‘Any Given Sunday,' ‘ A League of their Own,'- Hollywood has had its fair share of sport movies.

And now it's time for Bollywood to enjoy its very own boom of sport centric films. After the success of ‘Lagaan' and ‘Iqbal' and the not so good response to more recent films like ‘Hattrick,' ‘Say Salaam India' and ‘Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii,' Bollywood is getting ready for a surge of sports based films.

One very ambitious sports film this year is director Shimit Amin's next after ‘Ab Tak Chhapan'- ‘Chak De' which has King Khan starring alongside a bevy of girls. Shah Rukh plays the aging coach of a female hockey squad who acts as their inspiration and guide.

And there is Vivek Agnihotri of ‘Chocolate' fame who is putting together ‘Goal' with John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Bipasha Basu, which has been shot entirety in London, prominently the Manchester United stadium. And there is Anil Sharma's ‘Apne' where the father-son trio, Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby, play boxers.

And this is not all. Debutante director Vicky Singh who has assisted Farhan Akhtar in the past is all set to make ‘Raaste' with John, Abhishek Bachchan and Sikandar Kher. John is reportedly playing a biker, while Abhishek is a car racer and Sikandar a truck driver in the film produced by Suneil Shetty.

Soham Shah who directed ‘Kaal' is planning to start a new film on adventure sports. It will star Ajay Devgan, who is also producing it along with Kumar Mangat. David Dhawan is gearing up with ‘Hook Ya Crook', featuring Amrita Rao and South actor Siddharth of ‘Rang De Basanti' fame, which is produced by UTV and will reportedly have a "good dose" of cricket.

After the debacle of ‘Fool N Final', Ahmed Khan is said to be planning a soccer flick- ‘Mazhab', earlier titled ‘Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar'. The movie might star Nana Patekar playing the coach of a team comprising of Viviek Oberoi, Suneil Shetty, Arjun Rampal, Sohail Khan, Bobby Deol and Aftab Shivdasani.

If that's not enough, there are talks about Subhash Ghai coming up with a glamorous take on cycling called ‘Cycle Kick'.

Interestingly sports also played smaller parts in recent films like ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum' where Saif Ali Khan played a car racing champion. In JBJ, Abhishek Bachchan appeared as a die-hard Chelsea club fan. There is a buzz that soccer plays an important part in the Dino Morea- Milind Soman starrer ‘Bhram' as well.

Even some upcoming filmmakers have chosen sport centric subjects for their debuts. ‘Marathon' directed by new director Nisha Chainani stars the likes of Mandira Bedi and Bikram Saluja. Cricket anchor and self confessed cricket fanatic Mandira Bedi is starring in yet another sporty film- Chandrakant Kulkarni's ‘Meerabai Not Out'.

Mandira will star as an ardent Anil Kumble fan and what's more the leg spinner will make a special appearance in the film. Newcomer Sanjay Chauhan is directing an unconventional film ‘Lahore' which is about kickboxing.

But unlike ‘Iqbal,' ‘Lagaan,' and ‘Stumped' before that movie makers today are not focusing on just cricket. Hockey which is the focal point of ‘Chak De' is the national game of India and there is a feeling that it's good that the sport is being given the attention it deserves.

SRK himself has hoped that the film makes a positive impact on the game and promotes it as our country requires huge sponsorships for hockey in present times.

The average filmgoer out here is also getting or set to get a taste of everything from Formula One, Tour de France, running, soccer, adventure sports, racing and cycling.

"Today youngsters love the English Premier League and French Open. Players such as Sania Mirza, Michael Schumacher and David Beckham are as popular as any other cricketer", says choreographer- director Ahmed Khan.

Directors are also making it a point to delve into the details and do all the research required to make things authentic. Famous football choreographer Andy Ansah was roped in to train the actors in ‘Goal'.

John, Abhishek and Sikandar will also undergo a three week-long training for ‘Raaste'. Sports choreographer Steve Kelso trained Saif Ali Khan for ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum'. Similarly, several Australian choreographers trained the Deols for the boxing arena.

Another interesting aspect is the fact that like ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander' some fifteen years ago and then ‘Lagaan,' and ‘Iqbal', most of these films from ‘Chak De' to ‘Goal' to ‘Raaste' deal with stories of the under dog.

In ‘Marathon too', passion for sports will try reconstruct the broken lives of the characters. In ‘Apne', Bobby Deol fights for a cause. This emotional factor is something which is likely to strike a chord with the audiences.

But the downside is that, sports movies have mostly received a lukewarm response at the Bollywood box office. Apart from ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar,' ‘Lagaan,' and ‘Iqbal,' sporty films haven't exactly set the screens on fire.

‘Stumped,' ‘Aryan - The Unbreakable,' ‘Hat Trick,' ‘Say Salaam India,' and ‘Chain Kulii ki Main Kulii' are a few examples.

"We haven't had a sports culture for long, but it has changed in the past few years. Finally, sport is permeating our lifestyles. We are a sports-loving nation. It's just that not many filmmakers have offered them quality sports movies.

Today, audiences are intelligent enough to appreciate novel themes like sports. And don't forget they also want change", says a critic summing it up. -Sneha Hazarika