Irfan Pathan in 'Action'; a flashback into Indian cricket stars dalliance with tinsel town

Indians always cherish and revere Bollywood and cricket stars. Be it drawing rooms, college canteens or streetside tea stalls, gossip on movies and cricket dominates.

The fad for cricket is so high in the tinsel town pitch that Glam queens have fallen over cric heroes including the lovely couples, Mohammad Azharuddin - Sangeeta Bijlani and Virat Kohli- Anushka Sharma.

The 'Real Pathan' in action mode

History has witnessed several living cricket legends showcasing their acting talent in front of the camera. Continuing the trend, former Indian cricketer and left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan has made his debut in the tinsel town with Chiyaan Vikram's Tamil action-thriller flick Cobra also starring KGF queen Srinidhi Shetty among others.

Taking the glorious dalliance of tinsel town with Cricketers to a new pitch, Irfan Pathan has taken the action charge in the movie.

Cobra released theatrically on Aug 31. Though the movie has failed to impress a certain section of the audience, the hype for the movie remains high. While Vikram is seen in as many as six elaborate get-ups, the inclusion of Srinidhi and all-rounder bowler Irfan raised the excitement among fans. 

Apart from the length of the movie (a little over three hours), the confusing narration was also blamed for the negative reviews. Considering the audience feedback, the duration was reduced by 20 minutes on the second day. 

Irfan portrays the character of an Interpol officer. The cricket star, who shined on the field with his actions, has now impressed many with his onscreen actions as Aslan Yilmaz. Well, more about his character can be known after watching the movie. 

Throughout his sports career, Irfan has embarked on several achievements. He overcame several barriers and emerged as the "blue-eyed boy" of Indian cricket. However, now speculations have been raised if Irfan will continue his journey as an actor and leave an everlasting mark in the minds of movie lovers as an actor or will fade away from the tinsel town when the flamboyance of several other cricket legends couldn't sizzle on the silver screen.

More Cricket stars who featured on big screens 

Here we bring a list of cricketers who have a close association with the tinsel town.

Sunil Gavaskar- Little Master Sunil Gavaskar starred in a Marathi movie Savli Premachi and also had a cameo in 1988's Malaamaal starring Naseeruddin Shah.

Kapil Dev: Though not in major roles, Cricket legend Kapil Dev has made silver screen appearances multiple times. Movies like Iqbal, Mujhse Shadi Karogi, Stumped, and the most recent 83, gave his glance. 

Syed Kirmani- Syed Kirmani earned fame as one of the most accomplished wicket-keepers of the Indian team. He was a part of the 1983 World Cup winning team. Kirmani did appear as the antagonist in Kabhi Ajnabi The.  Later, he had a cameo role in the Malayalam movie ‘Mazhavillinattam Vare’ in 2012.

Sandeep Patil- Sandeep Patil stepped into the tinsel town as a protagonist in 'Kabhi Ajnabi The’ and locked horns with Kirmani.

Salim Durani- Salim Durani won the hearts of his fans as he hit sixes at the request of the crowd. He became the first cricketer to win the Arjuna Award. He forayed into the tinsel town and made his debut with Charitra opposite Parveen Babi.

Ajay Jadeja- The handsome hunk of the Indian cricket team, Ajay Jadeja had tried his luck in B-Town. His charming, stylish and effervescent qualities had a long-lasting effect on girls including Madhuri Dixit. However, his charm couldn't show magic in the tinsel town. He stepped in the lead role in 2003's Khel, which bombed at the box office. Even though he played a role in Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas but this movie also turned out to be a disaster. Later, Ajay made guest appearances in a few movies.

Vinod Kambli- Vinod Kambli recently made it to the headlines after he made a startling revelation about his financial condition. The Mumbai lad, who emerged as one of the best talents, couldn't have a glorifying career on the field. he also tried his luck in the film industry, however, luck didn't support him and his movie Aanarth with Suniel Shetty bombed at the box office. The debacle put an end to his acting career.  

S Sreesanth- S Sreesanth made his debut with a Tollywood movie, ‘Team 5’. His debut in the acting profession was as the main lead opposite Nikki Galrani. Later, he made his Bollywood debut with ‘Aksar 2’.

There are several other cricketers who have appeared on the silver screen. The list includes Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. However, all these had cameo appearances in different movies.

Now, it is MS Dhoni, who is foraying into the tinsel town, but not as an actor. Dhoni will be producing a Tamil movie starring Thalapathy Vijay. Well, this is certainly not the end. The coming days will see more influx of cric stars into the tinsel town.