Bollywood films have been a rage in foreign countries. Indian television serials are also catching up it seems. The Ghana under-17 football team is crazy for an Indian television serial ‘Kumkum Bhagya’.
The popularity is so huge that the under-17 kids want to meet the main protagonists of the TV show, ‘Pragya’ and ‘Abhi’.
When the Ghana team came to know about their pre-quarter final match venue in Mumbai, they expressed their desire to meet the main leads of the popular TV serial.
Kwadwo Agyemang, board chairman of the Ghana National Sports Authority talks about his and his team’s love for Kumkum Bhagya.
''We want to meet and take photos with some of the actors, and even the producer, anyone will do. We don’t even mind if it’s for five minutes”, he said.
FIFA U-17 World Cup, 2017: England Edge Japan 5-3 in Penalties to Enter Quarters.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the serial named “Telenovela” by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms has been on air in Ghana since November 2015, dubbed in the local Twi language and available on prime time.
The soap opera became so popular that the under-17 players in India have been looking for ways to keep up with the story when they are not at training or playing a match.
''They can stream it from the Ghana website on their phones to get the translated version, but we have confiscated their phones so they don’t get distracted. I watch the show, so they keep asking me what is happening,'' Agyemang added.
Ghana beat Niger to reach the quarterfinals on Wednesday in the FIFA Under-17 World Cuptournament.