A new Anmol KC starrer Captain has started its principal photography. The film, a sports drama, is currently being filmed at Tundhikhel in Ilam.

Earlier this week, just after a football match between APF and Manang Marsyangdi concluded, the audience did not leave the stadium, staying back to see the filming with a star-studded crew.

Quickly after the game was over, actors Anmol KC, Saroj Khanal and Bhuwan KC took to the ground, all of whom were donning a Manang Marsyangi’s jersey. Alongside the star-studded cast, Captain will also feature players from My Valley Club, the Ilam-based football club.

An event was organised to inaugurate the film’s shooting, which was presided by the erstwhile speaker of parliament Subash Chandra Nembang.

For Ilamelis who take football as a culture in itself, the shooting was something exciting.

According to the producers, Captain revolves around the current status of football in Nepal and its prospects. Producer Bhuwan KC said that the film is grounded to the realities that football players face. “Even though footballers are seen at large as celebrities, the realities they grapple with is not very well known. We are trying to bring the lives of footballers into the limelight,” KC said, “The film, we hope, will turn out to be inspiring for aspiring footballers.”

The film features Saroj Khanal and Anmol KC in the lead roles, in which they play father and son. The film unravels the father’s anticlimactic story, in which he is compelled to leave football in search of employment abroad. The plot then shifts to the father’s dedication to guiding his son to becoming a better footballer.

The film, directed by Diwakar Bhattarai, also features actors Upasana Singh Thakuri and Priyanka MB, among others.