Maidan review {4.0/5} and review rating
Star Cast: Ajay Devgan, Priyamani, Gajraj Rao
Director: Amit R Sharma
Maidan Movie Synopsis:
field A story of an ideal coach. The year is 1952. During the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, India lose a match against Yugoslavia horribly 10-1. Roy Chaudhary (Gajraj Rao), a prominent sports journalist and editor of The Indian Reginald, criticizes the Indian football team. The Football Federation of India, Kolkata called the team’s coach SA Rahim (Ajay Devgn), and asks for clarification. Rahim reasoned that the players didn’t even have the right shoes. He also insisted that there should be freedom to choose players. Federation head Anjan (Baharul Islam) agrees with Rahim but Shubhankar (Rudranil Ghosh), one of the core committee members, asks him to register more Bengali players. Rahim rejected the request and insisted that since it was an Indian team, he would get players from all over India based on merit. He then travels the country to find the best footballers. Eventually he forms a new team, consisting of Trilok Singh (Mandeep Singh), Arko Das (Prashanto Sinha), Jarnel Singh (Davinder Singh), Peter Thangaraj (Tejas Ravi Shankar), Fortunato Franco (Madhur Mittal), Pradyut Burman (Tanmay Bhattacharjee), These include Arun Ghosh (Aman Munshi), D Ethiraj (Raphael Jose), Tulsidas Balram (Sushant Vaidande), Chuni Goswami (Amartya Ray), Ram Bahadur (Amandeep Thakur), PK Banerjee (Chaitanya Sharma), Aryan Bhowmick (Neville D’Souza) and others. . Rahim coached him well and he played impressively in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics. But as they faced losses, the federation pulled Rahim again. On the other hand, Roy Choudhary, who has a personal grudge against Rahim, is spreading his agenda against him and the Indian team. If that wasn’t enough, Rahim is facing a huge personal setback at this point. What happens next sets up the rest of the film.
Maidan Movie Story Review:
The story of Saivin Quadras, Akash Chawla and Arunwa Joy Sengupta is fascinating and what a wonder not many people know about this chapter of history. The screenplay by Saivin Quadras (additional screenplay by Aman Rai, Atul Shahi and Amit R Sharma) is highly effective and boasts of some compelling scenes not only on the field but also off the field. The first half, however, could have been better. Ritesh Shah’s dialogues (additional dialogues by Siddhant Mago) are powerful.
Amit R Sharma’s direction is top notch. It’s not easy to pull off a sports film, especially when films like Lagaan (2011), Chak De India (2017), ’83 (2021) etc. have set a benchmark and are etched in people’s minds. But Amit succeeds and how. He portrays football scenes with a lot of craziness and thrilling moments. The politics Rahim faces and how he navigates them also work. One might argue that the villain’s track seems a bit far-fetched but it works beautifully, especially when Rahim hits them at multiple points. Rahim’s Personal Tragedy is another track that contributes a lot emotionally to the film. Apart from these elements, the innovative depiction of the text and the opening credits are also impressive.
On the other hand, the first half is a bit weak and the length of this hour could be shorter. The opening football matches do not leave the desired impact and the same goes for the football training sequence before the interval. Also, some scenes and competitions are not shown completely. For example, viewers only get to watch the first South Korea vs India match until half time. Of course, in the long run, it makes sense but at that point, one feels that the makers are trying to rush through the narrative.
Maidan opens with a strong and moving scene depicting the Indian team suffering an embarrassing defeat due to lack of shoes. Tulsidas Balaram of Secunderabad has a sweet entry. Two scenes in the first half are Rahim blasting Roy Chaudhary in their first meeting and Rahim’s reply to the Australian coach in the rematch. The scene where the crowd in Rome starts chanting ‘Well Played India’ is beautiful. Intermission point is important. After the interval, Saira’s scene (beloved) asks Rahim to return to football. Rahim has been re-elected as the sports coach and they are both walking and clapping. Same goes for the scene when Rahim returns from meeting Finance Minister Morarji Desai (Zaheer Mirza). However, the film went up a notch in the 1962 Jakarta Games sequence. The last 50-55 minutes are extremely captivating and take the film to a different level. The real life players are finally shown and it’s a really happy moment.
Maidan Trailer | Ajay Devgn Amit Sharma Boney K | AR Rahman | Fresh Lime Films
Maidan Film Exhibition:
Ajay Devgn is awesome, to say the least. He has had many great performances but the one on the field will go down as one of his greatest acts. His character goes through a lot and the way he portrays it is believable. Priyamani provides competent support. Gajraj Rao and Rudranil Ghosh are excellent as antagonists while Baharul Islam is adorable. Istayak Khan (assistant coach Hari) is passable. Zaheer Mirza is fine. Paul Spurrier (Australian coach) is memorable. Players like Davinder Singh, Tejas Ravi Shankar, Madhur Mittal, Tanmay Bhattacharjee, Sushant Vaidande, Amartya Ray, Chaitanya Sharma and Aryan Bhowmik have left their mark. Rishabh Joshi (Rahim’s son Hakeem), Vijay Maurya (Indian commentator Ramesh), Abhilash Thapliyal (Indian commentator Dev), Pachitra Sarkar (Bengal coach Tapan Bose) and Arvinder Singh Bhati (Sondhi; reprimanding Indonesia) are others who do well. ).
Field music and other technical aspects:
AR Rahman’s music is soulful but not of the chartbuster variety. ‘go for it’, however, appears to be cleverly inserted at the most poignant and crucial moments. AR Rahman’s singing is commendable. There is another song that works ‘Team India Hum’. ‘Mirza’, ‘Ranga Ranga’ And ‘I don’t want to do anything’ Do not register. AR Rahman’s background score adds to the tension and excitement.
Cinematography by Tusshar Kanti Ray is good while cinematography by Fyodor Lyas for sports scenes is excellent. The game scenes are shot in such a way that the audience will be engrossed in the action. Makeup and hair styling by Shalini Sharma Chakraborty and costumes by Keerthy Kolvankar and Maria Tharakan are authentic. The production composition by Khyati Mohan Kanchan is detailed. Redefine’s VFX is fantastic. It would be difficult for a layman to guess that the football match scenes were filmed not in Melbourne, Rome or Jakarta but on Madh Island! Devrao Jadhav’s editing could have been sharper in the first half. But the second half gives no cause for complaint. Shahnawaz Mosani’s editing for the sports scenes is razor-sharp.
Maidan Film Conclusion:
Overall, MAIDAAN is one of the best sports-based films in Bollywood with captivating drama, intense emotions, avoidable moments and a National Award-worthy performance by Ajay Devgn. At the box office, it may have a slow start but due to positive word of mouth, especially in urban centres, it has the potential to show a strong jump in its extended weekend and thus win the box office. Recommended!
