When stars have a ball

Over a decade since it was formed, All Stars Football Club (ASFC), an entity that brought together 34 film and TV stars who love playing football and have turned it into an avenue for charity, has been up to speed with the times – today the team will meet social media influencers on the field

Mumbai: In the minutes leading up to 5 pm, some familiar faces converge on the sprawling turf ground of Juhu’s Jamnabai Narsee School with the footloose energy of teenagers on weekends.

Leander Paes and Tiger Shroff warm up on the turf ground at Jamnabai Narsee School. (Sachin Haralkar)

Under a kinder sun, the gentlemen settle on the sidelines and slip into their club gear. Amid a flurry of big smiles, sundry chatter and quick handshakes, their fancy cars parked on the far end, calls for warm-up cut through the open field. It is another Sunday practice for the All Stars Football Club (ASFC) — an entity that brought together 34 film and TV stars who love playing football and have turned it into an avenue for charity.

Their two-hour routine remains the same: warm-up, practice game, cool-down. “A huge stress-buster, it helps me cope with the pressures of filmmaking,” says director Shoojit Sircar, a seasoned footballer since his school days. “It’s incredible how this club ties up the industry on another level. Much like how one walks into a lane and plays gully cricket, we gather here effortlessly. Right from Sunday morning the mind is buzzing for the game.”

The light banter continues until they step onto the field to take on a team of social media influencers — their big duel is set for tonight (Sunday) as the finale of the All Stars Footy League tournament at the same venue. The whistle blows and action intensifies.

Weaving his way through defenders, Tiger Shroff sprints swiftly towards the goal. The downward velocity of his nimble feet seemingly reversed, like a stone skipping across water. He glides, and almost scores. It’s a good save by the goalkeeper. Doubling up as a referee, Bunty Walia, ASFC’s owner, stands in the centre of the field. His presence is central to the ASFC story as well.

At the start of 2012, Walia, film producer and MD of G S Entertainment, noticed an increasing tribe of young stars who are football aficionados and love to play the sport as well. “It struck me like a bolt: I am in this nice intersection of films and events business, and I know all the football-loving actors. Why don’t I create a platform for them?”

Fired up, Walia approached two of his best buddies in Bollywood — Abhishek Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor. “I told them I can’t pay you. We have to make this work on passion and charity. I had drafted a letter that committed to playing at least three matches a year for ASFC, the proceeds of which will go to a charity of our choice. They loved the idea and signed up,” Walia recalls.

Within days, Arjun Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Varun Dhawan joined the club, putting aside two hours of their Sundays for the game. Once Walia arranged the kits, ASFC was launched in June 2012.

The team’s first session was at a rugged mud ground of Bandra’s St. Stanislaus High School. It was important to be discreet. Those Sunday afternoons saw Bachchan, Kapoors (Ranbir, Arjun, Aditya Roy), among others battle over football. Then the inevitable happened. “Passersby spotted stars playing and stopped by. Slowly, the crowd grew. Within weeks, a trickle of paparazzi had turned this into a weekly photographic affair. Those photos helped us grow organically,” Walia says.

In the early days, the club was tossed around at various Bandra venues – at St. Theresa’s ground they had to pack up by 5pm, before the church service while at Sacred Heart they had to converge at 2.30 pm and clear out by 4:45 pm, on the Father’s request. “Whatever the conditions or the weather, ASFC always practiced for two hours every Sunday over the years, except the Covid period. If some stars couldn’t make it due to shoots, others filled in,” says Walia.

The easy camaraderie is unmistakable and the spirit extends to the many charities that ASFC has raised funds for, like Magic Bus, which reaches 6 lakh children in India annually. Matthew Spacie, Founder, Magic Bus, says his NGO’s relationship with ASFC runs deep. “Bachchan has been extraordinarily generous with his time and efforts for us,” he says. “The revenue generated from the matches benefitted around 50,000 children in our programme.”

From Dubai to Singapore, and across India too, ASFC has played 24 matches over the years, generating a heavy purse for charity. When they travel for the matches, their bond deepens. Dino Morea says, “After a match, we spend a night hanging out, having a party. We rag the youngsters a bit, have fun together.”

As football is a team sport, no star gets special treatment, Walia points out. “Everybody gets the same class of flights and same hotel rooms; nobody gets a suite,” he says. “They enjoy each other’s company. This is why ASFC has survived for 11 years.”

Sarbh feels the idea of hierarchy, a mainstay in the professional sphere, drops when they are in a game, and they feel a sense of supportive community “outside the idea of work”. He says, “It’s like returning to a table-tennis set in the hotel after a long day of shoot. If the crew joins in to play, it becomes a nice equaliser.”

What also unites ASFC members is “playing to win”, the on-field frustrations over near-misses or bad passes eventually banished. “The shouting doesn’t matter to us at all,” says TV actor Karan Veer Mehra. “When we come out to play, we are all brothers and equals. Our singular aim is to beat the opponent.”

The brotherhood also fosters a learn-and-grow dynamic, several AFSC members like Khan and Mehra say. “The way the stars behave on and off field really humbles me,” says Mehra. “The goal is to practice being a sportsperson in real life.”

Sports has been a crucial part of these stars’ lives. Aparshakti Khurana always wanted to be a sportsperson. “Being part of ASFC helps me make peace with the fact that I couldn’t. It brings in a nice, semi-professional sportsman vibe to my life,” he says. “It has also nurtured a team-bonding spirit that I try to imbibe so when I am on a film set, I am a team person there as well.”

For Morea, too, competitive sports from his school and college days took a backseat once his modelling career took off. “I play football thrice a week. It’s meditative. It clears my mind. I’m older now but I still play like I’m 18, although the body finds it tough to keep up,” the 47-year-old says.

When the competition heats up, the unpredictability of injury surfaces, as Khurana discovered. A week before ASFC’s Singapore match, during practice, the actor suffered a meniscus tear on his knee and underwent surgery. “But such life situations toughen you. Today, I run better,” says Khurana.

The biggest challenge then for Vaibhav Daga, the team’s trusted physiotherapist, is to keep the stars injury-free. “If anyone here gets injured, they don’t lose football days but their work days. They can’t afford to push their bodies beyond a point,” he says. “So I ensure that their body undergoes proper stresses, and is prepared for football.”

The fact that ASFC doesn’t play “too rough” during practice games is a blessing for Sircar, who is 56. “Given my age, playing full ground with 11-a-side really tests my stamina. Sometimes, I think I won’t last that long. But it’s intoxicating to play, to lose yourself completely. I don’t know who I am on the ground apart from a soccer player, like any other player who’s playing anywhere; in the streets, or on the beach.”