Footballer Chima Okorie starts new innings on celluloid

Kolkata: International footballer Chima Okorie, who strode the Kolkata Maidan of the late 80s like a tiger, is all set to debut in a film titled 'Lakhyabhed'.

"Look, it doesn't seem to be a very big deal. After all, I am playing the role of a football coach in the Bengali film," Okorie, a Nigerian player told PTI.

He said that language could have been an issue, but years of stay in Kolkata had equipped him with a working knowledge of the Bengali language in which the film is being made.

"I am a Nigerian, but I am a Bengali too. The script is all about promoting Kolkata football with the protagonist, that is myself, mentoring a young footballer from an under-privileged background," Chima, who had also turned up in the English league and Norwegian premier league, was speaking on the sets of the 'Lakhyabhed' being directed by Sandip Chowdhury.

Asked how it felt to face the camera, Chima said, "As per the script, I shall do whatever I am comfortable with - dribbling, taking shots, demonstrating a thing or two to the youngsters - all part of the narrative."

Sandip said that in his childhood he had been pretty used to seeing the exploits of Chima on the telly, but what struck him was the disarming demeanour of the man.

The director said that the footage of the player's on-field exploits in the '80s would be used in the film in addition to press clippings.

"It is the first sports film in the mainstream genre to come out after path-breaking 'Striker' and 'Koni'. There will be the typical Anjan Chowdhury, maker of Bengali commercial films, touch, but hailing from the later generation I have contemporised the content," Sandip, the son of the maker of a series of blockbusters like Shatru, Gurudakshina and Chhotobou in the '90s, said.

Debutant Ranojoy essays the role of a struggling footballer whom Okorie mentors as coach.