Prepare yourselves for a journey of true emotion and inspiration. Based on a true story, Million Dollar Arm will take you into a fascinating experience with a talented cast and a compelling story that will have you talking for quite some time.

I sat down with the ones responsible for the overwhelming emotions throughout the film, Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal. The two play 18-year-old Indian men, Dinesh (Madhur Mittal) and Rinku (Suraj Sharma), who compete in the Million Dollar Arm pitching contest in India. The winners are flown to Los Angeles, CA for the chance of a lifetime. The actors explain that among the many reasons they jumped on board with this project, one of them was because they had been strangers to this true story from their very own native country. Sharma explained, “It all started with a surprise that this all actually happened in real life and that grew into a sad feeling… It’s so unbelievable that nobody knew about this. That was one of the reasons why I got hooked, because I was like ‘Wow, this needs to be told’”. Mittal added, “I remember feeling quite upset that I didn’t know about this. None of my friends knew. No one in my family knew about this story…. Nobody has ever done this in any sport in the history of mankind before, that’s big!”

The pair’s excitement to have been part of the film was striking and honestly refreshing. The two had nothing but good things to say about the director and cast of the film. “John Hamm, Bill Paxton, Allan Arkin, Pitobash, everybody. These guys are great actors and they’re amazingly talented and everybody knows that, but they’re amazing human beings. We learned so much from John Hamm, just about how to be a man,” said Sharma. John Hamm plays JB Bernstein, a sports agent who tries to save his career by going to India in the hopes of finding a young cricket pitcher, and turn him into a Major League Baseball star.

With the help of Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), a retired baseball scout, Bernstein and partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) find the two fastest pitchers in India, Rinku and Dinesh. While they are just portraying a story that actually happened, they tell us that their experience on preparing for the role was ‘quite similar to the real Rinku and Dinesh’. “Everything was happening to us in the same way that it happened to Rinku and Dinesh,” described Sharma. The two also had the opportunity to spend some time with the real Rinku and Dinesh, even train with them. “Dinesh helped us train. He gave us the understanding of what these people are internally,” he continued. Mittal added, “Also, for us as young actors it’s amazing to have that chance to kind of stick your teeth into a meaty real life based character, you know so early in our lives. It requires… a different set of skill. For an actor it’s a different set of obstacles that you have to cross where it’s based on a true character. It was great to have someone like Craig who told us that he wants us to play these guys… but not become carbon copies of them.”

Making eye contact with each other, Sharma and Mittal tell us they could not have asked for a better costar for this film. Mittal said, “The fact that I had him [referring to Sharma] along side me because of most of my interactions in the film… The most important interactions that my character has are with his character so it was very important that I had somebody who I trusted completely and who pushed me and helped me improve my performances as an actor.” Sharma agreed, “I feel the same way. Like we were two players in a tennis match and the ball is what your watching, kind of a situation.”

While Sharma and Mittal are the heart of the film, Amit adds to the pair creating a dynamic trio. I asked the actors about their experience working with Pitobash (Amit), laughing in unison the two respond. Mittal said, “He’s just indefinitely forever funny, even in real life.” Sharma added, “The great thing about him is that he’s not trying to be funny”.

Another comedic and yet multitalented actor is Lake Bell, who plays a medical student named Brenda. She balances the film with a nurturing and strong female character. While Berstein has his strong temper and difficult ways, Brenda teaches him to see that beyond a business investment, teamwork and a family relationship go a long way.

Overall, every character in the film brings warmth and a necessary characteristic to make this film as special as it is. From director Craig Gillespie all the way to composer A. R. Rahman, this film will inspire, make you feel and reminisce on the good things in life. Not only is Million Dollar Arm emotional, culturally and musically rich, but a real life example that dreams do come true.

Million Dollar Arm opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, May 16.