Kozhikode’s football fervour in celluloid

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Much has been talked about the love of the people of Kozhikode for football and now a documentary explaining the history of the football craze and the variety of football fans in the district has been filmed.

“Football is not just a sport for the denizens of Kozhikode. It is a part of their lives,” the documentary, titled The City of Football Fervour, says in its opening sentence.

Filmed by three youngsters from the city, Namish Bhruna, Meharoof Bhruna, and Krishna Bhruna, the films digs deep into the past of the game and tries to unveil the reasons for the football craze in the city.

“This is a first attempt that documents the history of the game and the football craze in Kozhikode. We have done a lot of research and found a great deal of information about the arrival of the game such as where it was played at first in the city and also about earlier players.

The other major aspect we focused on is the city’s crazy football fans,” says Namish Bhruna, the director of the film. “The major problem we encountered was the lack of resources.

We were astounded to learn that a Karachi-based team used to play in Mananchira every year in a tournament in times gone by. The atmosphere at Nainamvallappu was great and the love for the game was exceptional,” he says.

“At present, the film will be released in Malayalam. We are planning to dub it into five languages — English, French, Portugal, Spanish and German.

We want to let the world know about the people of Kozhikode and how they love the sport,” he said. The documentary, that was made under the banner Bhruna Film Factory, will be available online on Youtube from Thursday onwards.

Besides, the CD of the documentary will be screened at selected places and will also be distributed to select people. With visually-pleasing shots and intelligent editing, the 15-minute film ensures a good watch.