Prithviraj to play a former national team footballer

Photographer-turned-filmmaker Jamesh Kottakkal’s debut directorial

Beautiful Game

may very well knock the ball out of the park when it comes to sports-themed movies in Mollywood. Apart from having Prithviraj in the lead, the makers have roped in Hollywood action director Rob Miller as part of its crew.

We also got to know a bit about Prithviraj’s role in the movie. “His character is a former player of the Indian

football

team. While we wouldn’t show his past glory or him wearing the national jersey, it’s his experience as a national player that paves the way for the rest of the story,” says Jamesh, explaining that the character was in the right forward position in the team. For the uninitiated, the position requires players with great skill to dribble past the defenders of the opposing team and create goal-scoring chances. International football stars to have played as right forwards include Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

As for the film, the team is going the whole nine yards to guarantee a grand spectacle for the viewers, says its director. “We want it to be one of the best sports films from the South film industry. Every game will be shot with six cameras. Rob, who was the sports action director of films such as Chak De! India and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, flew down to Kochi from the US last week to discuss what needs to be done to achieve that level of perfection,” says Jamesh.

The team plans to begin shooting in the last quarter of the year. “Rob and his team will train a select few players in football on how to perform the sequences for the screen. We are also organising an acting camp for the players who were selected through auditions.” The movie scripted by Ajay Kumar, deals with the lives of players of popular Sevens Football in the Malabar region.