Let's be realistic.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

When I went to watch this movie, I knew that it was based on "soccer," which is like a national sport in this country and almost everyone, no matter what religion, caste or colour they are, support a team, whether it is in the Premiere League or even a local league. Every Saturday or Sunday and sometimes during the week days, many people go to watch their teams play.Shaan, captain of a local team, Southall United, is struggling not, only just to help the club to survive, but also help the players who are all Asians - Indians, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. One day, he is called in a meeting to be informed that the club may be demolished due to financial reasons. But he promises the owner that he will do whatever he can to make sure that this doesn't happen. Unfortunately, the owner soon passes away and it is up to Shaan to take control. He then goes in search of an ex - Southall United player, Toni Singh as he believes that he can save the club from closure. On re - building the team spirit, one of the players, in search of a physiotherapists, suggests Rumana, who is Shaan's sister. She agrees and during training session, she informs Toni that she has a good striker in mind but who is currently playing for their rival.Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is s movie that is purely based on soccer and stars John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Boman Irani and Dalip Tahil, Arshad Wasi, directed by Vivek Agnihotri and is written by Anurag Kashyap. John Abraham, whose films have not done really all that well this year, has for sure proved that he is talented by giving a good performance and fits the role very well. The same goes for Arshad Wasi. But Bipasha, who, while promoting the Taj Mahal for the Seven Wonders of The World, was photographed kissing the Manchester United striker, Christiano Ronaldo, and was rumoured to splitting with John Abraham, has very limited role in this movie. But another actor, who has proved his versatility, in movies such as "Lage Raho Munnabhai", "Munnabhai M.B.B.S" and "Don - The Chase Begins," Boman Irani, is again good in this movie and has proved that he can play his roles of an aggressive character very well. Vivek Agnihotri has also done a good job of the direction as has Anurag Kashyap in writing it.This is a very well researched made movie, in terms of research as well and what has made it better is that it was almost entirely filmed at London's Chelsea Football club, one of the current top teams in this country. The grounds used were those of the club. Howeve, in one scene, Manchester United Football Club can be seen and one scene is filmed inside the "museum" area where there are names, etc, of the players who were killed in the Munich air crash. The film makers were reported to have received a lot of help from Chelsea Football club and there were reports that some of the Chelsea players even kicked the ball around with some of the cast. But this movie has also shown reality and what some foreign players come across on the pitch - racism. Only recently, some players did complain that racism does exist stands where fans call some of them "names." But there are procedures that enable this to be stopped whenever possible. Also, what was correctly shown is that Indians, Pakistanis and even Bangladeshi people, born in this country do support various teams. The songs are not bad at all considering that there are not many.Since this movie has drama, tragedy and romance, it is a good movie and more so if you enjoy watching soccer.

The first half of the movie just opens up the story and keeps you imagining for the next half of the story and the second half of the movie is very interesting and exciting. The last 30 minutes of the movie are excellent. The music of the movie is very catchy.John Abraham is good and perfect for this role. Arshad Warsi is also present throughout the movie and has done a brilliant job here. Boman Irani in a role that demands aggression and intensity is good. Bipasha Basu looks sexy throughout, acts well although her role is limited. Dalip Tahil and the rest of the football players support ably.The movie is overall good to watch

I am always a sucker for movies about sports, and this is no exception. Went by for a premier show, and I wasn't disappointed. Although I can't say that I'm blown away either. The producers ran into copyright issues with the title of the movie, and had to change it at the last possible moment. I would really have been drastically disappointed had this been a rip off from Santi Munez's tale in GOAL: The Dream Begins. Thankfully it wasn't. Instead it is *inspired* from another old movie named Major League featuring Charlie Sheen, the only difference, that was about baseball, and this is soccer. Add to it some Bollywood masala, and you got yourself a classic.The story is simple. There this town Southall, which is basically an Indian community, and they have their own movie theater. But they have failed to pay for their soccer grounds and the city community wants to sell it off. So the only way to save their grounds is to win the championship, something that the club hasn't managed a single time. But as it turns out, they get the team together, and somehow pulls it off. LOL, there is a interesting side plot featuring John Abraham's character and his family history, also an interesting scene in the Old Trafford dressing room. It's always nice to see the Theatre of Dreams.Bipasha Basu is excessive corny than necessary. John Abraham flaunts his biceps throughout. Arshad Warsi gives a reserved performance, Boman Irani is fantastic as ever. There's also real nice performances from Rajendranath Zutshi and Dalip Tahil. Yet, at the end of the day it fails to live up to hype. It happens to be a sad remake of yet another lesser known Hollywood movie. The music is good, although sometimes it feels blatantly unnecessary. The camera work, cinematography is good. And those soccer skills owns !! 8/10 !!!

Chak De India, one of my favorite films, excellently shows how King Khan transforms a pathetic team into world champions, dealing with several realistic dilemmas throughout the journey. Being tolerant enough of DDDG's story having the same goal (no pun intended) as Chak De, I do not like the fact that several scenes, dialogues, and even game strategies are blatantly copied.For example, the pre-climax speech by the coach is exactly the same. If I'm not mistaken, the order of wins and losses, including two games with previous year's champions in game #2 and the championship round (Aston/Australia), is the same. The unexpected strategy between two feuding players on the team with the more talented one passing to the less one is a xerox copy with the players running at the same angle and are at the exact same position on the field with the same number of opponents guarding each player. The list is endless.There is only one big part of the plot analogously different from Chak De, and surprise, surprise, it's lifted off of the other Bollywood sports movie of 2007--Apne. This is the bit about racism--losing out at the finals some 15 odd years ago because of racists threatening the coach. Then, the same coach reluctantly comes back to rewrite history. And of course, they have to throw in the random cheap item song "Billo" that jars with the flow of the film.The saving grace and highlight of this film is John Abraham. His performance is his best 'til date, and his enthusiasm for football shines through the screen. He has now definitely cemented his place in the industry, and people must be eagerly awaiting his future projects. It is also nice to get another chance to see the on-screen chemistry between John and Bipasha after a long time. Bipasha disappointingly doesn't give an impressive performance. Boman Irani isn't bad, but I feel this is the worst of all his performances. Arshad Warsi is cool as always.Keeping in mind that too many Bollywood films are plagiarized, I would be a hypocrite if I say I don't like dishonest work. This time I had seen the previous work beforehand, contrary to the norm, so it bugged me more. Still, the movie is well-made and a bit entertaining--mainly the second half. The first half is a drag. I wouldn't dish out the extra bucks to watch this if you have already seen Chak De India. However, if you haven't, and for some reason do not want to watch Chak De, then Goal will be an enjoyable film.