Akshay Kumar's hockey sports drama Gold that opens tomorrow is high on patriotism and smacks of national pride. The actor, who plays the manager of India's post Independence hockey team that goes to London to win the 1948 Olympics gold medal, is hoping this film gets shown in Pakistan.

"My last film PadMan, that highlighted menstruation and the importance of sanitary pads, was boycotted in that country," Akshay said ruefully when addressing the media post a press show of Gold yesterday. That was because Pakistan had said at the time of PadMan's release that it was not open or comfortable with the idea of discussing menstruation in public.

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"But I am hoping Gold gets screened in Pakistan because this is a sports based film and Imran Khan, who will be sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan next week, is a sportsman and Pakistan's former cricket captain," Akshay said of the neighbouring nation's imminent premier who was also its  most outstanding athlete of the 1990s.

Gold shows the Partition of India in all its fire and fury. It's significance in the film is considerable because Akshay Kumar is busy putting together a hockey team to go to London for the 1948 Olympics when the division of India splits the team and sends half its players across the border. Ironically, they all meet a year later in London for the Games, but this time as opponents.

Nationality is however cast aside in the end. Both teams are shown rooting for their former teammates as Pakistan plays Netherlands and India plays England in the finals. This is the first time in a Bollywood film that India and Pakistan are not shown fighting one another. Akshay Kumar, talking about these dramatic and emotional scenes in Gold, said that was what sport was all about.