Bollywood hopes to score with film on soccer

B ollywood hopes to score this month with a film about a rag-tag team of South Asians who win an English soccer tournament, the latest in a string of sports-themed films.
A bankrupt club of Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Britain, with no stars and not even a coach, comes from behind to win a top English championship in ‘Goal' a film which aims to showcase the human spirit.
"The film is about a bunch of losers who start believing in themselves and reach their goal that is to win the tournament," director Vivek Agnihotri told Reuters.
"It is a film about human nature. How we fight back when our back is against the wall, of courage when the odds are high."
‘Goal' focuses on an amateur footballer who hopes to play in the English Premier League but chooses to get there by first resurrecting his local club.
Bollywood has lately successfully experimented with sports themes, and the year's biggest hit is about field hockey.
‘Chak De! India' has superstar Shah Rukh Khan play a disgraced hockey captain who redeems himself after guiding the national women's team to World Cup glory as the coach.
An earlier film, ‘Iqbal', about a physically challenged youth who made it to the Indian cricket team, also got good reviews and revenues.
‘Goal' is scheduled to be released on Nov. 23.
B ollywood hopes to score this month with a film about a rag-tag team of South Asians who win an English soccer tournament, the lat- est in a string of sports-themed films. A bankrupt club of Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Britain, with no stars and not even a coach, comes from behind to win a top Eng- lish championship in ‘Goal' a film which aims to showcase the human spirit. "The film is about a bunch of losers who start believing in themselves and reach their goal that is to win the tournament," director Vivek Agni- hotri told Reuters. "It is a film about human nature. How we fight back when our back is against the wall, of courage when the odds are high." ‘Goal' focuses on an amateur footballer who hopes to play in the English Premier League but chooses to get there by first resurrecting his local club. Bollywood has lately successfully experiment- ed with sports themes, and the year's biggest hit is about field hockey. ‘Chak De! India' has superstar Shah Rukh Khan play a disgraced hockey captain who redeems himself after guiding the national women's team to World Cup glory as the coach. An earlier film, ‘Iqbal', about a physically challenged youth who made it to the Indian cricket team, also got good reviews and revenues. ‘Goal' is scheduled to be released on Nov. 23.
Published in Desi Talk www.desitalk.com