Director Amit Sharma, who last helmed Badhaai Ho, recently won National Award for Best Popular Film. Post that, the filmmaker has started shooting for Maidaan, a sports drama featuring Ajay Devgn in the lead role. Ajay on Monday morning shared a poster of the film, which had a football and the words "The golden era of Indian football 1952-1962."
#maidaankicksoff today! pic.twitter.com/hbkzd727rh
— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) August 19, 2019
Maidaan is based on legendary former player Syed Abdul Rahim, who was also an Indian football coach and manager of the Indian national team from 1950 until his death in 1963. He is regarded as the architect of modern Indian football. Claiming he saw similarities in the trajectory of his subject and his leading man, Amit revealed why Ajay fit the part perfectly. "We are telling a story of an honest man who was an underdog and took football to the next level. That is the kind of journey that Ajay sir has gone through. Also, he is one actor who can show a variety of emotions purely with his eyes. This role demanded that," he told a leading daily.
Spanning six decades from 1900 to 1960, the film traces team India's victory at the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962. Adding that he has done extensive research on the subject, Amit signed off by saying, "We met some players, including Tulsidas Balaram and Fortunato Franco from the team who coached under him. We gathered enough material from them."
The film, which also stars National Award-winner Keerthy Suresh, is expected to release in 2020. Presented by Zee Studios and Boney Kapoor, Maidaan is jointly produced by Boney Kapoor, Akash Chawla and Arunava Joy Sengupta. Other details related to the film are still under wraps.
(Source: Mid-Day)
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