MUMBAI:

Though she plays a doctor in her forthcoming release Goal, Bipasha Basu didn’t miss out on kicking football in the movie and gives credit to boyfriend John Abraham for teaching her the game.

“I’ve been a soccer fan for five years. I got interested in the game because my boyfriend likes it. John taught me football in the hotel in London, though if I tried playing the game with the boys I’d make a fool of myself,” Bipasha said.

“John is very passionate about two things, bikes and football. He’s lucky he got to be in a bike film Dhoom and now a football film,” she added.

Directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the film, which also has Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani, will be released on November 23.

The actress has been away for quite a while. Barring a week’s work in Mumbai she has wrapped up all her shooting in London for Goal where she had major fun.

“This was a unique experience. A sporty film and I was the only girl in the principal cast.” Some real life footballers also feature in the Goal.

“I must tell you we had some really talented real-life Bangladeshi football players in our team in Goal. They aren’t actors. But they are naturals on camera. In fact, even the actors like John, Arshad and Boman were chosen because of their familiarity with the game.”

An added incentive was the fact that Bipasha got to work with John after three years.

“That was fun. Both of us have grown as actors. And I’m very excited by the chemistry between us in Goal. Unlike Jism and Madhoshi, where we had a more sensuous chemistry, in Goal our role is cute, not steamy or sexy, but very real... We did this film because both suit our roles in Goal to a T. We both took the decision as thorough professionals. And then our personal rapport came in. We had a good time.”