The Underdog Story !

Its the story India is all about. Its the story we all love. You just need to know how to present it to the let world come out and take notice . We've had better movies talking about it. And what am I referring to?? There are just too many names to it..

And the movies..Salaam Bombay was one, Barah Aana. Countless films, actually. Just that nobody was interested. They came as quietly as they went away. And heaps of dust just kept settling on the tapes. It took a Danny Boyle to shoot a Slumdog Millionaire in our country, take it to the Oscars and sweep all the awards for us to realize. Had Slumdog been made in India by an Indian, would the movie had got the acclaim, the pedestal to which it has now reached? Would we have still preached it?? Or would the tape have been lying in some shady distributor's office, just beacause nobody else thought the film would get them anything (money,name) ? By the way, Indian directors had grown up a long time back. Only that our award ceremonies didn't. They still made sure that the previews of masala movies were all that you would see when this beautiful heeled anchor would walk in and announce the nominees for the best film..funny haan..And the good ol' flick would be sidelined to the beginning of the show in some critics category ( Its the middle and the end of an awards ceremony in Bollywood that is supposed to be the most-looked-forward-for segment) or even better..put somewhere near the technical awards.

So what's in an underdog story that we all love so much?

Now recently, I hadn't been too crazy about this season of the Indian Premier League. Why?

1. It wasn't being held in India so the excitement was always going to be missing.
2. The matches somehow seemed boring this time.

So it took an RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) vs DC (Deccan Chargers) IPL final to make me realize that this is something that I want to watch. For the sheer rebeliousness of the two teams to fight it out till the end. To be able to show the door to past champions, to stand out and be noticed.

And people loved it. Suddenly IPL2 was a success. After 58 matches and 37 days of hardcore cricket ( that ended up getting boring ) , we expected the final encounter to be OK, but it was special. The explosive Deccan Chargers and the fighter Royal Challengers played a match which was very close to a thriller and gave an entertaining end to the tournament. Chasing a low total, RCB had the edge. But then DC, backed by some unexpected performances, came out of nowhere to win the coveted title. And it made us realize that everyone still wants that slice of the Underdog story!

Is it inherently rooted in us to back the underdog? Or is it that we just vie for a little change? Why do we get bored so often? Is it our fixation for always wanting something different that makes us want a change in order? Lets say, we always wanted somebody to come up and beat Australia. Remove them from their position as no. 1. And somebody did do it. I was glued to watching the epic Wimbeldon final in 2008 between Nadal and Federer.

And how was he able to do it?

1) Greater hunger

2) Going for something rather than defending it.

So are these the only qualities that make an underdog break the domination of an incumbent or is there the X-factor too?

Probably. And I would say that be "Circumstances".

It was an ageing Kumble's last chance to prove himself. There were questions being raised on the efficacy of one of India's greatest bowlers. And he answered them wonderfully. He got his team together and played the knock of his life. Money can buy Peterson, but not a legend like Kumble. I am sure Vijay Mallaya would be thinking the same after his performance although his side lost the match. Kumble has really proved that cricket has hardly produced fighters like him. Yet he never got his due and the IPL 2 final was another example.

But then again the efforts of Gilchrist cannot be ignored, it was Gilly who single-handedly took his side to the IPL finals with his experienced strategies. This ageing Australian legend kept himself cool even under nail-biting moments and led his side to raise the trophy.

For both of them, it hasn't been easy at all. Their journey from the bottom of the chart last year to being in the finals this year has been truly deserving and remarkable. And that is why I loved them. And most of you loved them. For... the 'underdogs' rose to the occasion.

Al Pacino sums this up nicely when he tells a losing football team during half-time in the movie 'Any Given Sunday', "In any given fight, its the guy who is willing to die who is gonna win that inch". And life is all about those six inches in front of our face.