Goal

<p>Jaidev and Kavita Bhasin live a middle-class lifestyle in Southall, England, with their son, Sunny. During the mid-80s, Jaidev was a huge fan of the all-Asian Southall Football Club, and their team was very successful so much so that it generated hatred from opposing mainstream Caucasian teams, who attacked Jaidev and the team’s star player, Tony Singh. This spelled the end of the team, and the ground was then rented out for weddings and birthday parties. Jaidev wanted Sunny to play for Southall, but Sunny believed himself to be British and joined the Aston Football Club. When the time comes for selection, Sunny, often referred to as ‘Paki’, is sidelined. Embittered, he joins the Southall Club, and he and Captain Shaan Ali Khan, as well as Coach Tony Singh, steer the team to many victories, including a place in the semi-finals. However, just before the Southall team intends to play against Gatwick, they get the news that Sunny has switched to another more prestigious club in exchange for a fancy sports car, a four-bedroom mansion, a handsome signing amount, and a generous weekly allowance. This leaves Southall to turn its ground over to the Chair of the City Council, who wants to demolish it and build a shopping mall and theme park in its place. His actions prompt the community to ostracise him for his betrayal and treat him with contempt and disdain. However, Sunny eventually discovers the truth of his father’s attack and support for Southall. Deeply moved, he rejects his contract and heads back to help Southall win the final match against Aston and redeems himself to his teammates and community. The film had the of until August 2007. While the film was being shot at ’s stadium , and made a surprise appearance to watch the filming of . is also shown during a scene where Tony tries to inspire the players to play for more than just themselves by telling them the story of the , and how fought against the odds; the cast also got to shoot inside the dressing room. The soundtrack for the film was released in October 2007. It has been given a rating of 3 out of 5 on indiaFm.com. Lyrics by . Background score by , the son of late Maestro Sri Salil Chowdhury. of gave the film 3 out of 5, saying, “On the whole, has an ordinary first hour, but the post-interval portions, especially the exhilarating climax, makes up for everything.” Conversely, Raja Sen of gave the film 1 star out of 5, writing, “this film is a complete and utter drag, and a case in point against thoughtless derivative sports films, a trend threatening to grow following the success of fine films like Chak De! India and Iqbal.” Gautam Bhaskaran of wrote, ″the script is full of cliched. Must we continue to make Sikhs the butt of our jokes? Must Indian-British relationship still hang by the thread of such inane terms like ‘paki’? Would any sports commentator be stupid enough to expose his designs on television as Bakshi’s Tahil does? This is where scores with its neat script and no-nonsense approach with none of the romance, dances and usual Bollywood numbers of Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.” of wrote, “To be fair, the last 15 minutes or so do whip up sufficient nationalist fervour. The finale championship game is rigorously conceived and executed, and ably lensed by Attar Singh Saini. For the rest of the way, the helter-skelter direction, the shallow characterisations, the ear-piercing background music score and the slack editing, make you wish you had stayed at home. Honestly, this one’s too much like that famous song Goalie maar bheje mein.”</p>