Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

As rightly said by the team’s captain: “It is not about football”.
Vivek Agnihotri’s film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is about everything but football. It is so predictably about the rise of underdogs and the racism in UK.

The movie doesn't attempt to penetrate into the game. He is so involved in highlighting the racism in the UK that not even a single gora in the film is shown as a friend of the Asians in the Southall community. John Abraham’s character Sunny, who plays for a team of whites (Aston), is repeatedly warned by his dad and a Southall coach that a bitter reality awaits him. John is kicked out of the White team despite being the best player around.

Mr. Agnihotri shows racism in extremes in your movie.

‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ is a pretty average film with just a few good sequences that come just too late to save the sinking ship.

The movie does remind you of Chak De India ,a ragtag team of underdogs, ego clashes within the team, and the penultimate rise of the minnows. But 'Goal' is not half of Chak De India.

Shaan ( Arshad Warsi ) is the captain of the Southall football club which comprises of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi players. The club is only for namesake, its field being used for parties and weddings to make some extra money. There is no coach. The players are pot-bellied and flat-footed. No wonder, the club hasn’t won a tournament for decades.

Now, a bigger danger looms over the club. If they don’t pay their pending lease of the last seven years, the players risk losing the club to businessmen who want to make money out of turning the place into a commercial complex. Their only hope is to win the Combined Counties Football League in England and save the club through the prize money of 3 million.

Shaan finds a new coach, Tony Singh ( Boman Irani ), for the team. In turn, Tony finds a new striker Sunny ( John Abraham ) who has been dropped from an English team because of his color. But Sunny and Shaan don’t like each other.

Shaan’s sister Rumana ( Bipasha Basu ) who has a soft corner for Sunny and joins the team as the physiotherapist.

As the underdogs of Southall pull up their socks and take on the field with renewed vigour, The end is predictable. The underdogs will eventually prevail, but not without crossing any hurdles.

‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ has many flaws. Firstly, the movie lacks genuine humour (except a few moments). Secondly, the racist angle is stretched beyond credibility. The dislike of the South Asians towards the whites is understandable, but the director harps on it time and again, making the coloured ones look no less racist.

As far as performances go, John Abraham shows slight improvement in his acting abilities. The guy with a killer smile not just displays his natural flair at football, he also manages to emote well in good many scenes. Arshad Warsi is dependable as usual. His histrionics are in place. But he is just too stout to look good as a footballer.Boman Irani is just about okay.

‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ does have a few engrossing and emotional moments, mostly in the second half. The music is not very good.

However, if you are a fan of either John Abraham or football, you will manage to sit through a viewing of ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’.

Rating: **1/2.

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

Friday, November 23, 2007

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