Chak De… hopes from Goal
Now that coach Kabir Khan’s Team India has scored the winning goal both on and off screen in the for of Chak De India, there is another team that is equally ecstatic with the result of that match. And that is the team of John Abraham-Arshad Warsi starrer Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. With the sports genre coming of age in Chak De India, the prospects ofthe football centric Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal—a UTV venture directed by Vivek Agnihotri—seem brighter.
Says trade analyst Amod Mehra, “There is definitely curiosity about Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal more so after the success of Chak De India. There is a buzz around the film since sports has taken centrestage after the Yash Raj Film.” The official statement from UTV camp is that Goal will have a grand release. Though the release date is yet to be confirmed thanks to the Diwali/Id clash of Saawariya and Om Shanti Om, it will be a winter release. Says Siddharth Roy Kapoor, EVP, marketing, distribution and production, UTV, “We’re planning a wide release for the film. The success of Chak De India gives us the confidence that the audience is open to new subjects and treatment. But then the audience has already established that by the way they embraced Khosla Ka Ghosla and Rang De Basanti.”
Mehra is confident that after the box office jig of the SRK-starrer, there will soon be an assembly line of sport-based films from the Bombay film industry. A sentiment also echoed by Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal director Agnihotri. Incidentally, the writer of Chak De India, Jaideep Sahni, and Agnihotri were close collaborators during the scripting of both the films. “Jaideep is a good friend and we both used to tell each other that we have to make good sport-based films so that the genre gets its due. At the end of the day, if well made, sport films are assured of a good response since they are both entertaining and inspiring.”
The catch, if any, is the climax, which always has to be a match, in which predictably, the underdog team has to be triumphant. But therein comes the core value of a good sporting experience: the drama. “The context of any sport-based film is to put simple people in extraordinary situations which they have to overcome,” says Agnihotri. In the case of Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, the unit had to face its own share of extraordinary situations in the form of a plethora of prerelease controversies. There have been reports of the John-Arshad cold war, Bipasha Basu being made the target of racist comments and John’s reluctance to mouth anti-Pak dialogues. Agnihotri takes all the allegations in his stride but the latter gets him agitated. “My film goes a step further in creating bonhomie between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. You’ll see the flags of all the three countries in the film. And if you come across even one anti-Pak dialogue, you can come and murder me,” he declares, somewhat melodramatically.We’d rather cheer our favourite team.
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