The film Maidaan (मैदान), a story of India’s most successful national team coach, seemed to be cursed from the beginning.
First announced in 2018, the crew started filming just as the pandemic got rolling. Production delays required them to dismantle a 16-acre set and rebuild it after monsoon season. Then they waited until theaters were reopened, and then there were 2 more years of distribution delays. When it finally appeared in theaters, it appeared that post-pandemic movie goers were no longer embracing 3-hour movies.
But Maidaan is in your Amazon Prime stream now, and if you care about Indian football films, you should not miss it. The story was new to me, the film has great production values, the soccer is well-done and exciting, and the acting is excellent. I admit though, that I split the film over 2 nights — but hubby and I really looked forward to finishing it.
The Story
In the story, S.A. Rahim (Ajay Devgn) is coach of the Indian National Team. He takes the team to the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, where his team is embarrassed 10-1 by Yugoslavia. The players are hampered by playing barefoot, they lack fitness and cohesion, and they are unfamiliar with other styles of play. It is also only 13 years from India’s independence. What’s a new developing country to do?
Rahim tells the AIFF (All Indian Football Federation) that he needs more time and that he needs to recruit his own team. The AIFF agrees, and Rahim crosses the country to find players who meet his requirements. Players must have skill and fitness, be able to play in cleats, and fill multiple positions. He also finds Peter Thangaraj, a very tall goalkeeper.
By the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Rahim has forged a strong team that is able to easily defeat host Australia, who has disrespected them. However, India does not win a medal, and Rahim has earned the enmity of the most influential Indian sports journalist, Roy Choudhary (Gajraj Rao). Choudhary schemes with Federation member Shabuhankar to remove the coach.
Rahim takes the team to the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where once again they impress but fail to win a medal. Rahim asks the Federation for more time, but Shabuhankar convinces them to send him packing. Shortly thereafter, Rahim finds out he has lung cancer, and he goes home to die.
Rahim’s wife convinces him he should keep trying to achieve his dream of winning a medal. By this time, India has lost 7 of 8 matches. Rahim tells the Federation he wants to coach the team at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. If he doesn’t win a medal, he promises to never coach again. Led by the present coach, the Federation votes to reinstate Rahim. He and his players then encounter many more obstacles before they can achieve his dream. (Which is to be expected in a 3-hour movie…)
In Conclusion
Maidaan‘s high production values imbue authenticity in a period piece that aptly portrays India’s golden age of football. The production’s efforts to draw me deep into that portrayal was the major reason I enjoyed this movie. They even brought in teams of White, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai footballers to portray the competition. The soccer in the second half of the film is well done and conveys a lot of excitement.
In style, the film eloquently shows the culture of 1960s India, although with horse-drawn carriages, it often feels like the 1930s. The coach is admirably stoic, the recruitment of players is entertaining, and the villains are quite cunning and calculating. The coach and players overcome many problems, repeatedly inspiring with perseverance, making it a feel good film even though Rahim’s life was tragically short.
One downside is that Maidaan is based on the true story of Rahim‘s success and death, but it is hard to tell how much of the off-field stuff is fabricated or mischaracterized. There are very few historical documents available, but it appears the federation officials and the sports journalist in the film are fictional. The villianous character might instead represent former Federation president Manindra Dutta Ray, which would make more sense than a sportswriter trying to influence the team roster selection and also trying to prevent the team from going to the Asian games.
Rahim’s son, SS Hakim, played for his father on a Hyberabad club team and the NT. To go to the 1962 Asian games in Indonesia, Rahim was forced to cut costs by reducing his roster from 22 to 16 players. This meant he had to cut his son from the NT. In real life, Hakim went on to become a FIFA international referee and helped with the Maidaan production, but he and other teammates passed away before its release.
8 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 8
Resources:
- Released: 2024-04-10 (India)
- The title “मैदान” (Maidaan, also spelled as maidan) means field
- 181 minutes
- In Hindi with English sub-titles
- I watched this on Amazon Prime
- IMDB
- WIKI
- Director: Amit Sharma (aka Amit Ravindernath Sharma)
- Stars: Ajay Devgn (S.A. Rahim) , Gajraj Rao (Roy Choudhary) , Rudranil Ghosh (Shubhankar)
- Watch the Trailer
- Strangely, Zee Studios does not have a website
