In Pics: Prosenjit, Param play ball with Alvito

Despite his recent recovery from a bout of high fever, Prosenjit Chatterjee is on the football ground two to three times a day, rehearsing his shots for Parambrata Chatterjee's Lorai, in which he plays a football coach. "I love football and always wanted to be part of a sports film. So, I am enjoying every bit of it," said the actor. About his role, the actor said, "This film shows how a man, who had lost all hope in life, regains his confidence. It is not inspired by any particular footballer's life. I've spent hours with coaches to get their exact body language on and off the ground."

Director Parambrata Chatterjee, who decided to formally announce the film on the Yuva Bharati Krirangan, said that he had penned the story of Lorai with only Prosenjit in mind. "Though we have shared screen earlier also, it's an absolute honour to direct him." With this film, Parambrata also aims at popularizing the game of football in a country that worships cricket.

Is the film in any way inspired by Chakde! India?, we asked Prosenjit. "Not at all. It is a different story altogether. Then will you say all love stories are inspired by Romeo and Juliet?," asked Prosenjit. Parambrata, though, was less vehement in brushing aside all similarities. "Sports films mostly follow a pattern. My film is a tribute to those films which use sports as a commentary on bigger political scenarios. Like Escape to Victory"

Lorai, which also stars like Gargi Roychoudhury, Biswajit Chakraborty, Dipankar De, Indrasish Roy, Kharaj Mukherjee, Apurba and Kanchan Mullick, includes star footballers like Alvito D’Cunha (in picture). The shooting of a match, designed by Shoojit Sircar, is currently on at Barasat stadium.

We also spotted Payel Sarkar sitting in the stands watching the game in rapt attention. Well, she ought to be, since she is playing a journalist in the film who gets to interview Sebastian, Prosenjit's character. But It's tough shooting for a film that mostly depends on outdoor shots. While the actress has mostly been surviving on fruits, during the outdoor shots, she keeps herself hydrated with a lot of glucose, lime water, cucumber and yogurt

Indrasish plays Deep, the son of a zamindar in the village whose family is going through a bad time. "Deep, under the guidance of his coach rediscovers himself. He is one of the best players of the team and his coach helps him hone his skills" said Indrasish.

When CT asked him how confident was he about his father, Biswajit Chatterjee, winning the Lok Sabha elections as the Trinamool candidate from Delhi, he said, "I'm not a fortune-teller. Only time will tell." Is it heard that Prosenjit too had been approached by Trinamool Congress as a candidate for the coming Lok Sabha elections but he denied. "As of now and in the near future, it is only acting and no politics," Prosenjit cuts it short.

Parambrata had started to pen the script when he was in north Bengal shooting for Highway. But he abandoned it midway, since he was penning a script for the first time and was not really sure of it. that is when he narrated the script to Prosenjit, who agreed to star in his film without a second thought. It was all the encouragement Parambrata needed. He finished the script within a month of that incident.