Dhan Dhana Dhan .. Goal'

Runtime: 166min 10secs
Language: Hindi (with English subtitles)
Tagline: Heroes Will Rise.
Written by: Vikramaditya Motwane
Directed by: Vivek Agnihotri

Plot Outline:
Southall United Football Club is facing its deepest crisis ever. Bankrupt, with no stars, no coach, no sponsors, no takers, no spectators and most importantly no owner. After the city council sends an eviction notice, it’s the last chance to save the ground, the club and their honor. Now, Southall United must win the Combined Counties Football League in their otherwise last season. One man's dream takes the team on a remarkable journey in this football-themed drama. Shaan (Arshad Warsi) takes up the challenge to save the club from extinction. After a disesteemed ex-player, Tony Singh (Boman Irani) joins them as the coach, in spite of the being sniggered, and laughed at, he and Shaan, work to gather the worn out team. Its hard work as they approach their first game.

Enter Sunny Bhasin (John Abraham). He dreams to play for an England team, but when his club does not select him, his dream shatters. Sunny himself had always laughed at his own community and Southall United. Sunny and Shaan could not ever see eye to eye, but things are about to change.

Overall Impressions:
It seems sports is in fashion this year when it comes to the Bollywood world, In April we had Ta Ra Rum Pum (Car Racing), June we had Apne (Boxing), Chak De! India (Hockey) and now Dhan Dhana Dhan .. Goal. So how does it hold up?

For most of the main cast I'd say these roles were a strange casting decision, but they all fortunately exceeded my expectations of them. So tick off the box for performances as they were all spot on, in fact I should say they've all excelled. The music was passible, none stood out as repeat value except ofcourse the anthem of the team (also used in the trailer for the film). Since the USP of the film is Sport, I personally would have skipped out the other 2 songs entirely, but it's a minor thing that I'm willing to forgive.

What I can not forgive is the half-baked script. I'll elaborate on the term "half-baked": When a flour & yeast based recipe is removed from the overn & served, before it is done rising to it's true potential. This is precisely the sentiment I have for the film. Reasons? Well, since you ask so nicely.. :) the ingredients are all there. We have the team rivalry, the coach trying to redeem himself, the team outcast, racism issues, the father figure, the evil council trying to take the grounds away thus raising the stakes. What they've done here is shook it all up & gone ahead with it. It feels like a bit of shuffling of scenes, justification and a bit more care with individual scenes ensuring they don't appear forcefully placed really could have helped this turn out a lot lot better.

Spoiler alert: One example: the father son relationship with Sunny, even the introduction to this was coincidental, he bumps into his father in a shop of all places, refreshing to see I suppose --sure we can forgive, but skipping the details & jumping right to the end. We're informed that the father has had issues with football since the incident and hadn't been involved with matches for over a decade & now all of a sudden he's in the crowd? and on TV? Why? Unforgivable.

This isn't the only such example, there are numerous co-incidences that just go beyond the realm of believable, which is okay if it was a brain-dead action or comedy film, I mean I'm all for cinematic liberties but we give that to the overall result & the matches of a sports film surely, adding it to every other aspect of the story just makes cheering on the team a difficult task. The actors help, but there's only so much they can do.

Surely it's a noble attempt, with likable performances, but unfortunately as a package it's not quite the cookie that crumbles. (More the one that snaps your teeth when you try to bite it. Ouch!)