Goal will benefit from Chak de's success: Agnihotri

Mumbai, Nov 12 (UNI) Bollywood filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri said his upcoming film ''Goal'' is a sports action drama based in the United Kingdom and would benefit from the success of Shah Rukh Khan starrer ''Chak De India'' that regaled movie goers with its simple story of gritty hockey players, who win the world cup against all odds.

Talking to UNI here, Vivek said ''Goal'' is a story about a group of footballers, belonging to Asian community in the UK, who struggle to retain their craft and space for their community in foreign land.

Replying to a question on why he chose to base his film in the UK, Vivek said that Bollywood films targetted at the NRI community in the UK and the US always show the protagonists as those coming from a happy rich family, singing and dancing. But, there are people of Asian origin in the UK who belong to the lower strata of the British society including illegal immigrants. ''Goal'' aims to celebrate their struggle.

Speaking about the film, Vivek said ''Goal'' is a story of the great optimistic trait- hope. The characters in this drama fight the battle of hope through relationships, pride and their dreams.

Southall United is a football club going through a major crisis. The team has no stars, no sponsors, no spectators and most importantly, no coach. Yet, it nurtures the hope that it will win. Goal is a contemporary story of the Asian community in the UK, told through the dynamic prism of professional football.

He added, he completed the shooting schedule of the film in four months. He said he is confident the film will appeal to football -lover in India as well.

The film, which releases on November 23, stars John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani. Arshad and Bipasha play the brother-sister duo of Pakistani origin. Vivek's first film ''Chocolate'' starring Anil Kapoor did not do well at the box office.

UNI