Where Goal fails and Chak De Succeeds

I pulled two reluctant friends with me to watch Goal. There is a reason behind it, beyond the movie. I have decided to watch every movie that gets released at Plaza. I miss the charm of the old world theatres where even during a movie the chips and the cold drinks never fail to come in, where I am not spoiled for choices, where going to a movie is a destination and not just another activity to kill the weekend. The other day I got the tickets and forgot to take the change. The old gentleman at the counter smiled and gave me back my change without asking a second question when I went back to him after watching a movie. With all their brilliance, watching a movie in a multiplex never has the same charm as in an old world theatre.

Anyway, coming back to Goal - The movie is a nice watch unless you have something more important to do. It has conveniently borrowed from movies like ‘Cool Runnings’ and ‘Shaolin Soccer’ and has put in threads of Asian Unity in the UK. However, that becomes the pitfall for the movie. While Chak De was about fighting for a common goal as well as individual’s triumph against adversity, Goal focuses only on the much used theme of cultural unity in a foreign land except perhaps for the last fifteen minutes. I am sure even if Chak De was made in India with the theme as the story of a Jamaican basketball team, it would not have seemed out of context. However, Goal with a faulty script never can match up to the standards of a Chak De. Not because it is a bad film, but because the film is out of our context. It fans the same spirit that every single human being should try to subdue in them. An Asian Football team trying to bear its communities’ identity in a multicultural Britain is not perhaps the best example of a global brotherhood which we all must strive to attain.

Since we are talking about movies, two quick references - I love the legislation that forces the National Anthem to be played before the start of every movie and I think Jab we Met was a nice movie simply because Kareena Kapoor acted herself.