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Football Lovers’ Day: Bengali films on the love of the game and the lives around it

Football Lovers’ Day: Bengali films on the love of the game and the lives around it
Hia Datta

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‘Sob Khelar Shera Bangalir Tumi football’ - this epic song crooned by the celebrated Manna Dey says it all about the cultural association of Bengal and Bengalis with the game of football. The worshipful craze for the game extends from the neighbourhood matches, watching Football World Cup in clubs and houses with huge pomp and show that includes taking to the streets to add to the burst of fireworks when the team wins, to the age-old Mohun Bagan and East Bengal competition, which is listed on FIFA’s Classic Rivalries. Football is the life and blood of sports in West Bengal.

However, on August 16, 1980, a Kolkata Derby Match in the Calcutta Football League at the Eden Gardens stadium cost 16 fans their lives due to a stampede that ensued after both the teams drew on a draw and unmanaged fans of both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan went out of hand at each other at the stands.

Ever since the Indian Football Association commemorates the day as Football Lovers’ Day to pay homage to the 16 football lovers who lost their lives in the fateful incident. Manna Dey had rendered the song Khela football Khela dedicated to the departed fans. Despite it all though, the Bengali’s love for football has sustained and survived. And raising a cheer to that and for everything that the game means to not just Bengalis but every football fan, here are 5 films that you can watch on OTT.

 

1

Dhanyee Meye

7.9
Love reaches its happily ever after through a game of football in this Arabindra Mukhopadhyay directorial. Starring Uttam Kumar, Sabitri Chatterjee, Jaya Bachchan, Rabi Ghosh, Partho Mukherjee among others, the classic romantic comedy centres around Bogola (Partha Mukherjee) who is the captain of a football team Sarbamangala Club supervised by his elder brother Kali Dutta (Uttam Kumar). Kali walks, talks and dreams of only football. They visit the village Harbhanga to play the final match of the Manchester Shield, which is the ancestral pride of the president of the local football club Gobordhan Chowdhury (Jahor Roy). The engaging film is not just about a game of football but the interplay of pride of the two clubs and matters of the heart clubbed in.

where
to Watch

2

Saheb

8.7
In every nook and corner of India, lies a sportsperson waiting to be discovered and lifted off from ordinary life to the zenith of their concerning sports or game. What goes outside the game often impacts the game on-field hugely and that is the story of Saheb, the titular protagonist played by Tapas Pal, for whom football is his life and more. He is a cheery, well-meaning boy with starry football dreams in his eyes and the passion and talent to be a great goalkeeper, but is neglected by his family except for his sister Bulti. A twist of circumstance demands a heavy price from Saheb and to know what happens to his dreams as reality strikes, watch the film.

where
to Watch

3

Bicycle Kick

0
This Debasish Sen Sharma sports drama revolves around Rubayet (Saurav Banerjee) a shy, withdrawn, talented football player who comes to Kolkata to study, and while passing by a football ground, gets disturbed when the football comes at him, leaving the scene. This does not miss the eye of Moti Nandi (Ritwick Chatterjee), who is himself a failed footballer turned coach. Realising that there is more than meets the eye of the boy, he kicks the football at him some days later and Rubayet’s reflex action only confirms what Moti was looking for. He takes Rubayet under his wing for his flight from anonymity to success. A Chak De! India-esque film on football is this one.

where
to Watch

4

Lorai: Play to Live

7.4
Directed by Parambrata Chatterjee and starring Prasenjit Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar and Indrasish Roy as the lead cast, the plot traces the reaches of the game of football in the setting of a village. Sebastian Ryan (Prasenjit Chatterjee) is a former football star and an alcoholic who is tasked to build a team of footballers in a violent remote village in Purulia. He is initially averse to the very prospect of having to train a group of untamed, uncouth rural youths but what transpires from there opens his eyes to the whole scenario, and alters his perspective. The quirks, hilarity, and drama around the premise of a football game at the centre of rustic life, with its socio-cultural underpinning, will keep you invested throughout.

where
to Watch

5

Messi

7
Titled after the legendary Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi in a veiled reference, the Riingo Banerjee directorial is a moving sports drama that narrates the tale of two brothers, one, Messi, a gifted footballer, and the ideal son to their parents, and the younger brother, Chotu, the laid-back loiterer of the two who whiles away fixing local matches for his brother and hanging out with his girlfriend. The tables of fate turn and push them into a crisis where Chotu must rise to the occasion and take up his brother’s place to make good of what is lost with what he can do for it.

where
to Watch


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