Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan will soon be making his Bollywood debut. As per reports, Dhawan has completed the shooting of the film. The film is touted to be a mainstream project. However, this is not the first time a cricketer has been roped into a Bollywood project. Here are some of the sportsmen who have tried their luck in the industry.
Not many are aware that former Indian cricket team captain, Kapil Dev was signed up to do a cameo in some of the Bollywood films. Some of his cameo appearances were in films such as Nagesh Kukunoor’s 'Iqbal,' Karanjeet Saluja’s 'Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii,' David Dhawan’s 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' and Kabir Khan's biopic based on his life, titled '83,' starring Ranveer Singh. Like sports, the ace Indian cricketer left his fans impressed with his stellar performance.
After his downfall in cricket, Jadeja tried his luck in Bollywood, marking his debut with the 2003 film, 'Khel,' co-starring Celina Jaitley, Sunil Shetty, and Sunny Deol. He also featured in V.K Kumar's 'Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat' that was released in 2009. He made a cameo appearance as a cricket commentator in Abhishek Kapoor's 'Kai Po Che!'
The cricket legend made his debut in the film industry with the 2002 film, 'Annarth'. Apart from this, he also got a chance to act in movies like 'Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat' (2009) & 'Bettanagere' (2015).
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Yuvraj Singh’s father Yograj Singh, a former cricketer, was appreciated for his role as the coach of Milkha Singh in the Blockbuster hit, ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’. Besides this film, Yograj acted in many Punjabi movies.
The former cricketer shared screen space with Naseeruddin Shah in 1988 film, 'Maalamaal'. He also acted in 1980 Marathi film 'Savli Premachi'.
Bollywood and cricket have a special bond. There have been biopics made on some of the notable cricketers like M.S. Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin, and a documentary film based on Sachin Tendulkar, titled 'Sachin: A billion dreams.'
'Shabaash Mithu', based on Mithali Raj's journey, and 'Chakda Xpress,' based on Jhulan Goswami's life, will be hitting the theatres soon.