Neha Dhupia, Adil Hussain's '52 Blue' to Open London Indian Film Festival

The movie is a coming-of-age drama about a sheltered young man's journey from Kerala to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in pursuit of his childhood idol, Lionel Messi.

Directed by Ali El Arabi, the film will also screen at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham on July 10. El Arabi and members of the cast are scheduled to attend both screenings.

According to the outlet, '52 Blue' centres on Ashish (Yadav Shashidhar), a young man raised in isolation on a Kerala island by an overprotective father and a quietly encouraging mother, played respectively by Adil Hussain and Neha Dhupia. After breaking free from that sheltered existence, Ashish sets out across continents, driven by a goal bound up in the memory of his late brother, as quoted by Variety.

The film features an original song, 'It's Your Turn,' by rapper and singer-songwriter Badshah.

"We are delighted to open our 17th festival with this riveting and inspirational film about youth finding a way against impossible odds, which seems to wonderfully go against the grain of these despondent times," said Cary Rajinder Sawhney, the festival's CEO and programming director, as quoted by Variety.

"The contrast of the protagonist's life from small-town Kerala to the massive spectacle of international stadiums really sums up the dichotomy of experience in the modern world and how Indian people are often the hidden backbone workers of richer nations. El Arabi skillfully extracts commanding performances from their young actor Yadav Shashidhar and globally recognised names like Adil Hussain," added Sawhney as quoted by Variety.

The London Indian Film Festival, which also encompasses the Birmingham Indian Film Festival and Manchester Indian Film Festival, marks its 17th year with a program spanning 20 venues across six U.K. cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Bradford and Liverpool, reported Variety.

The full multi-city program will be unveiled on June 10.

- ANI