An inspiring journey
Whether it’s a player’s journey, a team’s amazing win, or the tale of an unknown coach, sports dramas typically succeed in fusing passion and suspense without sacrificing intensity. Maidaan, starring Ajay Devgn, left me feeling just as happy and satisfied as I did after watching the brilliant films Chak De! India and MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. This comprehensive and masterfully crafted biographical film, directed by Amit Sharma, honors the golden age of Indian football from the 1950s to the 1960s and highlights the outstanding work of coach Syed Abdul Rahim, who had one lifelong ambition to build a winning team and establish Indian football as a major global sport.
Same Troop
On multiple occasions, Maidaan follows the footsteps of sports dramas where Team India emerges as the underdog, and their unbelievable triumph, clinching a trophy or medal in the final few minutes of a live match, keeps you on the edge of your seats. Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic 70-minute speech is replaced with Ajay’s lecture on oneness where he tells his boys, ‘match mein utarna 11, lekin dikhna ek’. Another scene in which Ajay visits the stadium a night before the finals and we see a closeup of his face as the water sprinklers prepare the ground for the next match, will definitely remind you of Chak De! India.
Review
Rahim’s transformation from a committed coach to a loving family man is shown to us. Rahim refuses to submit to the system in the face of political turmoil, protests, and pressure from a resentful and powerful sports journalist, Roy Choudhary (Gajraj Rao), as well as internal politics inside the football federation, which are mostly driven by Shubhankar (Rudranil Ghosh). He states unequivocally in front of the federation that, at home in Hyderabad, he is a devoted father to his children and a loving husband who is committed to teaching his wife Saira (Priya Mani) English. Even when he experiences a personal or professional setback, things temporarily halt, but he quickly regains his conviction and confidence. Rahim’s character arch is expertly depicted in Maidaan, which also leads us through his highs, lows, sacrifices he made, obstacles he crossed and how he maintained his composure while doing all this. There’s way too much emotion that’s invested in this character, and that, I felt is among the high points of the film.
Technical aspects
The film has been shot brilliantly ,they have recreated the 1950s era beautifully. The movie has done good job in the VFX department. The film has run time of 3 hours and 1 minute which is very lengthy. The screenplay should have been more crisper. At points you feel film is dragging a bit. AR Rahman’s songs were average, doesn’t bring anything to the story but the background score in emotional moments does the job very well.
Performances
Ajay Devgn has literally lived the character of Rahim on screen. He is the show stealer undoubtedly. He will be in race for many awards for this role. The certain calmness in his face while he is not speaking any dialogues. His eyes express a lot in each and every scene. Priyamani gives him good support as his wife. Gajraj and Rudranil are pretty good as the bad men, and they effortlessly make you hate their characters with their cunning camaraderie, though after a point, their villainy gets a tad too dragged. Nitanshi Goel is also good in her short screen space. The players have done decent job.
Final Word
Maidaan is a highly content driver cinema, class audience will definitely watch this on big screen while masses will be waiting for word of mouth. I recommend this to everyone as Ajay Devgn’s performance is enough to watch this sports drama. The VFX is also very good so viewing experience will be more special. I’m expecting this to be another box office hit for Ajay after Shaitaan.
Kevin Varchand