Sports movies are being made one after another in Bollywood. Whether it is '83' or 'Jersey' or the movies released in the past years like 'Chak De India' and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', the credit for filming the game correctly goes to Hollywood sports action director Rob Miller of ReelSports. Rob, the real player of Bollywood sports movies, told 'Dainik Bhaskar' about his unique work and admitted that showing cricket to Indians is a big challenge.

Hi-Fi broadcast has made the viewers smarter. Sports broadcast is becoming more hi-tech every year. With multiple camera angles, computer graphics and live editing, viewers are able to enjoy the match as well as understand every technical aspect well. That is why it is important for sports movies to remain authentic.

Making a cricket movie for Indians is a challenge As compared to movies like boxing (Mary Kom), athletics (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) and hockey (Chak De India), one more thing had to be kept in mind in cricket based movies like '83' and 'Jersey' that cricket is the most popular in India. Here every child knows everything about the technical aspects of cricket, the playing style of the cricketer, the history and data of every event. Therefore, this audience will be super critical in a cricket movie. No chances could be taken here.

There is more responsibility in recreating historical moments. Whether the film is fiction or historical, our work of authentic sports action remains the same. But it is certain that our responsibility increases in historical events like '83' or biopics like 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'. We cannot show the cricket of the 90s in a story of the 80s. Even the popular shots of that time or the design of the scoreboard in the stadium are taken care of.

In '83' memories worked wonders . Old footage helps us in designing sports action. Like, for Mary Kom, I sat with one of our American Olympic boxing coaches, Christy Halbert and watched all of Mary Kom's championship matches. I understood from them how she boxed in a unique way compared to other boxers of the world. This helped in designing her sports action. But, in '83, more than footage, the memories of cricketers and people of that time helped us. Who was standing where in the field, how was the sunlight, how was the ball, all these things were recreated better because of memories.

Ranveer-Shahid's passion, Shahrukh's professionalism is amazing Ranveer and Shahid Kapoor are very passionate. Both of them used to come fully prepared every time. Shahrukh's character in 'Chak De India' was that of a coach, so he did not have many sports action scenes of his own. But he had played before and he worked a lot on detailing even in scenes like holding a hockey stick. Working with such a professional actor was really a great experience.

Preparation for Rob's sports action choreography

The right pitch, stadium or track

• Finding or getting a stadium or running track or boxing ring prepared as per the story.
• How many cameras will be installed, what will be the angle, how will the lighting be, what will be the design of the dressing room, all this Reiki.

Authentic sports gear and more

• Use of bat and pads from the same era in the 1983 World Cup.
• In every level of the game of 'Chak De India', the dress of the players and other accessories including hockey stick changed.
• Also focus on the design of podiums, referee's cards and medals in athletics.

Training responsibility

• Talent hunt of real sports persons for two types of work. One is to give training to the actors in that sport. Second is to cast the real sports person as an actor in the film as per the story.
• There were many original sports persons in the different teams of '83' and 'Chak De India'. They were also trained according to the film. Like in 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', the sports persons were told to keep doing their natural running but let Farhan go ahead.
• Camera person, lighting and sound person are also trained in specific camera angles for sports. Micro seconds are also important in sports, hence editors also have to be made aware of the details for post production.

I have many memories related to the training camp of '83' i.e. 'India's Got Talent' show . The atmosphere of 'India's Got Talent' was created in the training camp in Dharamshala. Ranveer, Hardy Sandhu and Amy Virk kept singing songs in the bus while going to the stadium. Along with this, Sahil Khattar's parallel stand-up comedy show used to go on. But they had also become very passionate about cricket. The real World Cup of 2019 was going on during our shooting. I was watching the match on the laptop but after a while the whole crew grabbed my laptop to watch the match and I had to watch the match on mobile with my technical advisor.

Some of Rob's films as a sports action director in India

Chak De! India - 2007

Dil Bole Hadippa - 2009

Patiala House - 2011

Student of the Year -2012

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag -2013

Mary Kom - 2014

Azhar - 2017

Half Girlfriend - 2017

83 - 2021

Jersey - Release date not set

Jungle Cry - Release date not set

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Authored by Hiren Antani. Originally published by Bhaskar

https://www.bhaskar.com/entertainment/bollywood/news/sports-action-director-rob-miller-showing-cricket-to-indians-on-screen-is-the-biggest-challenge-129255517.html

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