Aditya N
Aditya N
Story:
Syed Abdul Rahim (Ajay Devgn), the coach of the Indian football team, starts to find a fresh group of players to get good results for the team after a big loss in the 1952 Olympics. Rahim scouts for new talent nationwide, starting from his native Hyderabad. The rest of the film is about Rahim’s journey and the obstacles he encounters.
Performances:
Ajay Devgn gives a terrific performance as Syed Abdul Rahim, and this character will be memorable in his career and Bollywood. Priyamani makes her presence felt despite her character having limited scope. At the same time, Gajraj Rao, Rudranil Ghosh, Chaitanya Sharma, Davinder Gill, Tejas Ravishankar, Amartya Ray, Sushant Waydande, and others fit well in their characters.
Analysis:
Maidaan showcases an important segment in the history of Indian Sports. It shows how politics in sports hindered our nation’s growth at the international level. One more good thing about Maidaan is that the events aren’t overdramatized and look realistic. The narration never gets out of focus and steadily builds the emotion in the proceedings. The first hour is a bit slow and acts like a prelude to the second hour, where the film’s emotional core rises to the next level. Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma successfully made an impactful sports drama, albeit with a few flaws.
Positives:
Ajay Devgn’s performance was a significant plus point for the film, and the other actors who played the teammates’ characters also looked natural. The cinematography and AR Rahman’s pulse-pounding background score are the icing on the cake. The camera movements during the final thirty minutes neatly capture the game tactics and help us feel the players’ emotions. All the games/matches in the second half worked, and the best part is there was no attempt to bring over an emotional tone with the result of the game or the players’ pain. One more appreciable thing is that despite the protagonist being a Muslim, the director never tried to bank on regional/patriotic dialogues to elevate the character or film.
Negatives:
The bond between the coach and players could have been more effectively shown. We get some glimpses of the faith and attachment between Rahim and Players, but a bit more stress could have added depth to the film’s narrative. Also, the family portions of Rahim were touched only at the surface level. Priyamani’s character as Rahim’s wife should have been explored more. The opponents of Rahim in the film, a newspaper owner and a football federation member, looked a bit artificial as the director made them caricaturistic.
Review (3.5/5)
Last Line: A Well-Made Sports Drama
