The 18th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) will be held on Sunday, January 15 in Mumbai. Over nearly two decades, many international and national runners, not to mention a huge number of fitness enthusiasts, have participated in different categories of the event. To get you in the mood for Sunday, we list five powerful movies related to running.
1) Chariots Of Fire (1981)
This Hugh Hudson-directed epic tells the tale of two British athletes, Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) and Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), who are participating at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Abrahams is of Jewish heritage and hence faces institutional prejudice at Cambridge University, but he is committed in his quest of winning an Olympic sprint title. Liddell is a man of religious conviction and vows not to compete at the Olympics, as the race is scheduled on a Sunday, a day of religious significance. The film became a huge hit and was nominated for several awards.
2) Budhia Singh – Born To Run (2016)
This 2016 movie directed by Soumendra Padhi sees Bollywood star Manoj Bajpayee play Biranchi Das, a father figure to Budhia Singh, who is played by Mayur Patole. The movie tells the story of Budhia and how he went on to become the world's youngest marathon runner. Budhia Singh reportedly ran 48 marathons by the time he was only five years old. The movie won the Best Children's Film award at the 63rd National Film Awards in 2016.
3) Running (1979)
The Michael Douglas starrer is about a fictional American marathon runner and Olympic hopeful Michael Andropolis, who sets his heart on representing the United States at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Douglas' character has lots of off-field problems such as divorce, mental struggles and unemployment. Directed by Steven Stern, ‘Running’ is an inspirational story of a marathoner who wards off personal struggles to achieve the unthinkable.
4) Spirit Of Marathon (2007)
A documentary film from director Jon Durham. ‘Spirit Of Marathon’ centres around six runners who are to participate in the 2005 Chicago Marathon. The documentary features some elite long-distance runners like Paula Radcliffe and Daniel Njenga. Spirit Of Marathon efficiently captures the drama, the passion and emotions of the marathon and the runners. It will definitely make you feel like lacing up and hitting the track.
5) Forrest Gump (1994)
Hollywood icon Tom Hanks stars in this feel-good Academy Award-winner. It shows Gump (Hanks), sharing his experiences of coming of age in 20th-century USA. The film is not based on running. But it has some memorable running scenes, such as Gump taking off spontaneously on a long run and eventually participating in a cross-country marathon. ‘Forrest Gump’ was remade recently in Bollywood, as the Aamir Khan-starrer 'Laal Singh Chaddha'.
