Director :  Kamal
Producer :  Neelagiri Productions
Cast :  Rajith, Aksha, Muktha, Rahman, Salim Kumar, Mukesh, Captain Raju, Poornima, Mithun, Jenny
Music :  Vidyasagar
Lyrics :  Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma

Director Kamal has once again shown that he can handle any subject with ease. If you approach Goal with a cynical mind, you may tend to categorize the film as boring and say that there is nothing new in it at all. To a certain extend that's true. The film moves along very predictable lines, but the director has seen to it that it is presented in such a way that it keeps you glued to the seat till the end. Of course there are certain scenes that elicit a yawn and even some amount of booing. But still, the film is a good commercial venture.

The story of Goal is set against a boarding school in Ooty, the Good Shepherd International School, where it is mostly the children of the rich who come to study. Everything about the school is posh. Vijay is the football coach in this school. The star-striker of the school football team is Felix Joseph, who is a spoilt brat and a drug addict too. The only reason that no action is taken against him is that he is the star attraction of the school's football team.

Victory always eludes the Good Shepherd football team, especially when they are playing against the St. Xavier's Team. One day Felix and two of his friends are caught red-handed using drugs. The Principal Dr. Emmanuel George is forced to take action. The three are dismissed.

Sam, who is from a poor background, is a ground-boy at the stadium and also works as a helper in the canteen. His father Isaac, who had been an ace footballer, had left years back in search of his wife who had been forcefully taken by people sent by her parents. Before leaving he entrusts Sam to the care of a friend named John, with whose daughter Maria he grows up. Maria is now working in the school canteen.

Sam is very close to Vijay and hence he is a sore in the eye for Felix and his friends. The dismissed Felix joins St. Xavier's and is determined to humble Vijay in every way possible. Vijay gives his team the necessary inspiration and brings them face to face with the St. Xavier's team. But Felix's friends in the Good Shepherd School are hand in glove with him and do all that is possible to see that their own team is beaten. They succeed in this and thus Felix accomplishes what he had wanted to.

In the meantime Sam's father turns up, but is in a totally distracted state mentally. In order to help his father regain his memory, Sam takes the ball and goes to the football ground at night. Neethu, who is Vijay's niece, happens to pass by and shoots Sam's performance on video. Vijay is stunned on seeing Sam's performance. What happens consequent to that forms the plot of Goal.

Debutante Rejith Menon gives a good performance as Sam, while Rehman is good as Vijay. Mumbai-based Aksha as Neethu too is good, though she falters a bit in the emotionally-charged sequences. Muktha, who had earlier been noted in Achchanurangaatha Veedu plays the role of Maria fairly well. Mukesh as Isaac is OK while Salim Kumar as Kuriakose, one of the faculty members of the school is his very usual self. Captain Raju does well as the Principal.

The songs, penned by Gireesh Puthencherry and Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma and set to tune by Vidyasagar are in sync with the theme and the mood of the film. Cinematography by P. Sukumar, editing by K. Rajagopal and art-direction by Suresh Kollam are the highlights of the film and help in maintaining and enhancing the mood and the tempo of the film.

The director, cinematographer and art-director have done all that is possible to make the film colourful, loud and lively so that it appeals to the young generation. Apart from some of the lagging scenes, the main drawback of the film is the storyline, which is an oft-repeated one moving along predictable lines. Still Kamal and team deserve to be appreciated for having come up with a colourful entertainer that jells well with the holiday mood.

Watch the trailor @ http://www.insidekerala.com/videos/watch.php?video=4JCd4ieccro