| Cinema and cricket: Our culture's unbeaten partnership Cricket or cinema — ask the Indian in me to pick one, and it’d most certainly be a long wait before you get an answer, if at all you do. Ek taraf dil hai toh dusri taraf jaan. How could one choose between Virat Kohli’s world-conquering swagger and Shah Rukh Khan’s infectious charisma? Between the collective exhilaration after breaching the Gabba and the sheer release you get from watching Khiladi Akshay Kumar break some bad-boy bones on the big screen? You simply can’t. And being in this country, you don’t have to, either. Cricket and cinema are the strands that the Indian DNA helix is undeniably made of. They are like our very own Jai and Veeru. They’re Tiger and Pathaan. They’re Dhoni and Yuvraj. And a case in point is the week that went by. In what can best be described as the coming together of the best of both worlds, India brought home the Asia Cup in unbelievably scintillating fashion even as Jawan’s box-office collections continued to go through the roof. Mohammed Siraj ran through Sri Lanka’s batting on September 17, ending a 50-over cricket match in a couple of hours — in the amount of time you normally browse Netflix looking for what to watch. On that day alone, the King Khan-starrer blockbuster raked in an estimated ₹36 crore at the domestic box office. In other words, the week just kept giving and giving — and we were all for it. What makes these chhoti chhoti khushiyan all the more special is the period of lull that they followed for both of our national passions. It makes my heart full to see the big-screen film, having limped for three long years, finally back and movie-watchers flocking for it (link previous newsletter column here). I find myself smiling from ear to ear to see our cricket team win a tournament with such authority after so many years, after a seemingly endless streak of final losses and knockout exits. With the 50-over World Cup coming to India next month, I cannot wait to see us graduate in no time from Asia ke dhurandhar to world champions. Following close on its heels will be Tiger 3, another much-awaited big-ticket project, and then Dunki, which will see two of the biggest crowd-pullers in Hindi cinema combine forces. No matter the circumstances, I always know that cricket and cinema are our own Karan-Arjun, and as Rakhee said, hamare Karan-Arjun aayenge, zarur aayenge. And it isn’t just the big ones. Films of all genres and types have been doing well (need I remind you that this was the year we won two Oscars?) In cricket, too, another Indian cricket team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad will square off against Pakistan (for the first time) at the Asian Games 2023. My neighbour Mr Mendiratta, the cricket fanatic, has already started placing friendly bets on that contest. If I win, I’ll be getting his ‘96 WC India jersey! So… cricket or cinema, you ask? Next question, please. |
