FIFA U17 World Cup: Ghana and its unique love for an Indian saas-bahu serial

Ghana have moved on to the quarter-finals of the U17 World Cup after beating Niger 2-0 in the last 16. The quarters will be another all-African battle for the two-time winners as they take on Mali who thrashed Iraq 5-1.

Ghana’s 4-0 win over India in their final group game not only meant that they won their group but also that they would play their round of 16 match in Mumbai, the home of Bollywood. Even though Bollywood stories are not very popular in the West African nation, a few Indian soap operas are. Out of these shows, TV show Kumkum Bhagya is the most popular in Ghana, as reported by the Indian Express.

Kwadwo Agyemang, board chairman of the Ghana National Sports Authority was quoted as saying, “We want to meet and take photos with some of the actors, and even the producer, anyone will do. We don’t mind even if it is for five minutes.”

Balaji Telefilms’ telenovela which is directed by Ekta Kapoor has been on air in the country since November 2015 and has been dubbed in the local language- Twi. Its popularity in the country has reached to the extent that the U17 team has actually been looking for ways to keep up with the story when they aren’t playing or training for 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,” stated Agyemang.

According to the Ghanian people, the local audiences are under the belief that the actors are actually well acquainted with Twi.

Giving an example, Agyemang takes out his phone and shows a video that has been very popular in Accra, Ghana’s capital. “In the scene, two characters are fooling Abhi, the rockstar. So the lady is shouting at Abhi to not believe them. People have become so engrossed in the show that there is a special analysis show now, sometimes with celebrities participating, which happens after each episode. Just like a post-match show for a football match,” added Agyemang.

The program has also attracted one of the highest advertising revenues of around $6500 per slot each month. However, this has also faced a tremendous backlash from local producers who are of the opinion that foreign TV shows must be banned.

Agyemang who is also a Member of Parliament spoke about the demands of the local producers. “In Ghana, they don’t want to invest in a production. Kumkum Bhagya has been aired for so long because people invested in creating sets, wrote scripts, and made the plots. The TV shows in Ghana don’t have great content, either.”

Around two months back, the wife of Ghana’s Vice-President was welcomed on the set of Kumkum Bhagya and posed for photographs with the cast. Now the U17 footballers are also hoping for a similar meeting.

However, due to the fact that Diwali was around the corner, the Ghanian footballers were unable to meet the show’s personnel. However, they still have another possibility of playing at Mumbai if they defeat Mali and reach the semifinals where they might play either of USA or England.