Aanaparambile World Cup on OTT: Here’s where to watch Antony Varghese’s children’s sports drama online

It was double the joy for Angamaly Diaries and Jallikattu star Antony Varghese during this Christmas. The actor had the theatrical release of his campus romcom Oh Meri Laila on December 23 and followed it up with the OTT release of Aanaparambile World Cup on December 24.

The latter, which is directed by debutant Nikhil Premraj, had completed its shoot before the pandemic in 2020 and had been awaiting a proper release date for over two years now. The movie, which is a children’s fantasy sports drama, finally hit theatres in November during the FIFA World Cup and had a host of promotional activities along with ISL team Kerala Blasters lined up.

Also read: Aanaparambile World Cup review: Antony Varghese’s film is an earnest and heartfelt tribute to Kerala’s love for football 

The film revolves around a group of children in the fictional village Aanaparambu, who are brimming with the passion to play football but don’t have the means to. When Nisham, an up-and-coming footballer, and his friends come into their lives, things begin to change. They coach the kids and lead them on their way to a U-12 football tournament.

The movie, which also has Manoj K Jayan, Sudhi Koppa, Lukman Avaran and Jumana Khan, dropped on the streaming platform, Sun NXT. Incidentally, the makers of the film, after the pandemic lockdowns, had mulled the possibility of directly releasing the movie in theatres and had almost locked a deal with a leading platform too. However, after a spate of Malayalam movies not being profitable for the streaming services, the latter decided to drop the movie.

But that didn’t deter the team of the film as they released the movie in theatres, at a time when football was trending. “It’s a children’s film akin to Chillar Party. I think it’s after a long time that a proper children’s entertainer is coming out in Malayalam,” Nikhil had earlier told us.

Meanwhile, Antony’s latest movie Oh Meri Laila is currently playing in theatres. The film also has Sona Olickal, Nandana Rajan, Shivakami and Senthil Krishna in pivotal roles.