Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal

Predictable ‘Goal’ fails to impress

 

By: Ulhas Shirke

 

 ‘Lagaan’ played the card for cricket , while  ‘Chak De! India’ promoted Hockey and the spirit of India and now it is ‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’ boosting the confidence of  the  NRI’s in England using  the game of Football , to fight racism . In short, our Bollywood is trying to cash in the popularity of sports in India, giving it a more feisty look . In the process, they have kept in mind the sentiments of Indians in particular, who are stretched across the globe. To be precise  the game of Football, needed to be popularized in India; for which purpose  Director Vivek Agnihotri, focused on  the young Asian community living in Southhall, England. Obviously he eyed on the overseas profits through the release of his film worldwide. So, you have  a football club called ‘Southhall United’, which once upon a time had made it to the finals of the English Football league.

 

Shaan Ali Khan( Arshad Warsi) , who leads the team also owns a kabab restaurant where his wife slogs in the kitchen and serves stale kababs and diluted beer  to the  uninvited football friends of her husband. Shaan also  has few other like minded friends, who also own other  small business and they all meet the expenditure of the club besides its upkeep. One day they come to know that the City council is keen on selling the ground to a developer, as their club had not performed for the past 22 years. Now, they have no other choice but to win the British Premier Football League during that year itself . So, the captain goes in search of a committed coach and he finds one in Tony Singh( Boman Irani) , who once upon a time played for the same club, but had disappeared after receiving threats from racial local people.

 

The coach, after persuasion, finally shows his willingness to train the team, but has his own terms of going the professional way. He calls for a transport vehicle, a doctor cum Physio and a sponsor for kit; and shaan and his team manage to get everything one by one. Shaan’s cousin- Rumana( Bipasha Basu) , who has just finished her medicine takes over as the team’s Doctor and the Garage owner cum player( Raj Zutshi) arranges an old bus for transportation of the team. The team then works hard, yet they fail to reach the expectations of their coach ; as they are badly in need of a quick striker. Rubana introduces the coach to a British born Sunny Bhasin( John Abraham) of Indian origin. Sunny, who  is trying hard to be in the British national team, is in the meanwhile   let down by the team management and coach Tony  Singh takes advantage of this situation and invites him to play for his team.

Needless to say that with Sunny’s inclusion, Southhall United team becomes a stronger team and goes on to win a few matches, but the coach is now more worried about the attitude of players. He tries his best to remove the jealousy from the mind of Shaan about Sunny and also succeeds to a certain extent. At a very crucial time, when their team is about to make a mark, the commentator cum villain Johny Bakshi( Dalip Tahil) steps in and lures Sunny with an attractive offer, thus  forcing him to leave Southhall United. Sunny who otherwise stays away from his parents is also warned by his father against racism in this game. And therefore, in the climax, we find our hero returning back to his side, for that crucial final encounter and nets a match winner with bleeding nose.

 

‘Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal’, goes almost on the lines of ‘Chak De! India’, as far as the subject matter is concerned; but it lacks the presentation. Moreover, the players selected to play for this team don’t look natural. Observe their fitness level and just can’t imagine them playing the English Football league.  Excluding John Abraham, Arshad Warsi to certain level and the goalkeeper, no other character looks like a player. No wonder, in one scene the coach tells them to watch themselves in the mirror. Sunny the hero, is shown as British born, yet he speaks Indian Hindi. Is that possible? There are so many errors which are easily noticed, particularly the unnecessary item number at a party in England. It is for this reason that it is neither a sports film nor an art film; but just an ordinary film that fails to generate any interest.

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