Review : Maidaan : Enthralling Sports Drama!

When it comes to sports, India’s name doesn’t pop up in anybody’s mind. Though we are a force to reckon with in Cricket, this sport is popular in only a couple of dozen countries. Football has craze all over the world and in India it’s popular in just a couple of states. But way back in the fifties and sixties, India was termed as Brazil of Asia by International sports bodies. In that era India won two gold medals in #AsianGames and it was possible due to the effort put in by coach #SyedAbdulRahim. A biopic on his life is #Maidaan is a well made movie which is sincere and captivating too. #AjayDevgn who plays Syed Abdul Rahim will win your hearts with his simplistic yet effective portrayal.

In one of the Oympics outing India is thrashed mercilessly in Football and back home the ‘babus’ try to put onus on team’s coach, Syed Abdul Rahim (Ajay Devgn). The in-fighting between the core committe comes to the fore as some members wanted more Calcutta players in the national team. But Syed Abdul Rahim is given a go ahead to pick his own team by the chairman and the coach assembles players from different region and forms a formidable team which gets a 4th rank in Olympics. But a dismal performance in the next Olympics, sees removal of Syed Abdul Rahim as football coach. A media baron (Gajraj Rao) and a Calcutta committee member (Rudranil Ghosh) are always against Rahim. Rahim suffers from lung cancer but his wife (Priyamani) advices him to return to coaching instead of waiting for death. Under dramatic situation he returns as National football coach and in 1962 India wins gold medal in Football at the Asain Games in Jakarta.

Maidaan’s script oozes simplicity and authenticity. No cinematic liberty seems to have been taken to highlight the drama. Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma (Badhaai Ho) has handled the subject tenderly. The first half establishes the characters but the second half is pacy and the climax gives you goosebumps and makes you feel proud as an Indian. Unfortunately India is medalless in International Football tournaments after that. The runtime of the film (3 hours) too is not deterrent as the nuances and complexities of the characters are brought to the fore convincingly.

A R Rahman’s music helps the narrative and the background score heightens the impact of the proceedings. The cinematography is excellent and the motion ground shots are beautifully captured. The casting director plays a pivotal role as the mammoth cast’s looks are authentic and all of them have performed well. Ajay Devgn emotes beautifully with his eyes and offers sedate yet effective performance. Priyamani does well as Runa Rahim and impresses in her limited screen time. Gajraj Rao is fantastic as a media person and offers effortless performance. He has a good company of Rudranil Ghosh who too plays the negative character to the perfection.

Rating : ****