Say Salaam India - 2007

Story

Say Salaam India is the story of cricket. It?s a story that revolves around a group of 4 boys and their passion for the game. The boys come from humble backgrounds and limited resources but what they have is a zeal for the game of cricket and undeniable natural talent. They study in the local corporation school where the most important sport on agenda is wrestling, taught by Wrestling Guru Surinder Huda ? a man driven by hatred for cricket because in his eyes it is cricket that is responsible for destroying traditional sports like Kushti, Kabbadi, and Hockey etc.

The story begins with establishing the 4 boys Viru, Mahi, Shakeel and Guri and their milieu, and how they fight their circumstances and lack of resources to pursue their fervor for the game. From here the story moves on to an elite school Royal Heritage in the state capital. It is here that we meet the protagonist of the film, Hari Sadu, a Cricket Fanatic who believes that gully cricket is to be played with a similar commitment as any other level of cricket. His new job is to coach the Royal Heritage team to win their sixth state championship, but he faces a stiff opposition to his coaching methods by the headstrong, arrogant members of the school team, who are more impressed with Sachin?s Ferrari than his batting skills and hard work behind it. The boys are talented but don?t have the passion and the discipline to match Hari?s ideas.

This results in a lot of situations, which add to the already simmering tension leading to a final showdown where Hari Sadu is wrongly accused and is thrown out by the members of the school trust. He?s replaced by Harry Oberoi, who is more of a suave fixer from the cricket world than a coach, but suits the image and profile of the school.

Hari Sadu gets home determined to make a local team to take on the cudgel at the inter school challenge. He is helped in this pursuit by his wife Sonali and his cerebral palsy suffering son Rustam. How he develops a cricketing eleven from the wrestling team at the local corporation school, overcoming various hurdles to take on the Royal Heritage School at the inter School Challenge is the story Say Salaam India.