India, Sept. 24 -- Mahesh Mathai, the showrunner and director of Real Kashmir Football Club, which has been nominated at the 54th International Emmy Awards in the Drama Series category, says he initially thought it was a "prank".

"There was an Instagram post but no information about the Emmy site so I made calls and finally found that it was true, but it was still not sinking in. From getting the story in hand to right people coming on board it has been a magical journey," says the Bhopal Express (2000) director, who also had Rajesh Mapuskar directing some episodes.

The show actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub and Manav Kaul in leading roles.

"When the show was being made my producer Kilian Kerwin had the belief that this show should go to Emmys ...