FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, as the next match for team Ghana, will take place in Mumbai it will hard to digest, what this West African nation excited for? As soon as the Ghana under-17 football team learnt that their pre-quarterfinal FIFA World Cup match would be held in Mumbai, a new item appeared on their to-do list. A trip to Film City, where the world of Abhi, Aliya, Pragya, Tanu, Bulbul and Purab came to life through a complex script of twists and turns, misunderstandings and marriages.

But in the West African nation, it is the Indian TV serial composition Kumkum Bhagya that reigns supreme. “We want to meet and take photos with some of the actors, and even the producer, anyone will do,” says Kwadwo Agyemang, board chairman of the Ghana National Sports Authority. “We don’t mind even if it is for five minutes.”

Since November 2015, it has become so popular that the under-17 players in India have been looking for ways to keep up with the story when they are not at training or playing 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. According to the Ghanaians, audiences back home are under the impression that the actors are actually fluent in Twi. But what has truly kept them hooked is the incessant plot twists that have long been associated with Indian soap operas.

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