“Maidaan mein utarna Gyarah, par dikhna.. Ek!”
Warning – this will be full of spoilers. Avoid reading if you haven’t watched it yet. Dekh aao fir padhna. Aur agar sirf verdict chahiye toh you can skip directly to the last paragraph. Kyuki, ‘main ek aisa review likh raha hu jisme kisi bhi position pe spoiler de sakta hu’
Maidaan – Opening Scene
Bachpan mein padha tha, that India played football in the Oympics bare feet and lost. The film opens from there, and I feel it was a very good way to start the film. Syed Abdul Rahim, played by Ajay Devgn, then travels to the Indian Football Association in Kolkata, where we see the difference of mindset between him and the other members of the association, their love and partiality towards Bengali players and Rahim’s positive attitude towards football and it’s growth.
His life, his wife and kids in Hyderabad is shown next which establishes everything about him in the first few minutes of the film. A very well written part. Act 1 ends here and now begin’s the journey (Act 2) of making India’s best football film.
Acting
Ajay Devgn – What a screen presence! He just nails in every scene. Where it’s anger or frustration, happiness, sadness or suffering, you can always feel what the character is feeling. And that is one very effective quality of an actor. Whether it’s Maidaan, Shaitaan, Drishyam or Raid, he proves every time what it means to be a senior actor.
Priyamani – She has good amount of screen time, her role is evenly spread through the entirety of the film. On the surface she is just a housewife but goes through a lot of inner turmoil and always stands by her husband. She plays her part very well. Wished to see a little more of her.
Gajraj Rao – a person who is just unnecessarily evil due to his own belief system which does not allow him to look at the larger picture. Kaafi gussa ata hai Roy babu par. Par time ke sath he also changes. Maybe a little too late.
Other Cast
Rudranil Ghosh as Shubhankar is one very irritating character. He is so stupid and negative, ki mann karta hai picture mein ghus ke mukka maar du. Lekin agar koi negative character apko aisa feel kara deta hai, then it means the actor has done a fabulous job. Bahaut kam hota hai jab aap puri shiddat se kisi villain ho hate karte ho. Credit goes to the writer, director and actor.
Chaitanya Sharma as PK Banerjee and Amartya Ray as Chuni Goswami had little more screentime than the rest of the players. Both played there part very well, fir wo Maidaan ke andar football khelne wala scene ho ya fir Maidaan ke bahar ka.
All the players they cast were spot on. They showed the pictures of the real players along with the actors and many of them looked too much alike. They all acted very well, you can notice the innocence, determination, sadness on losing, and respect for Rahim on their faces and body language.
Set Design, Costume and World Building
This is something that is in the background but subconsciously it affects the movie watching experience. Production and vfx team did a great job in showcasing the 1950s Mumbai. Maybe here and there, you can notice that they are set pieces but otherwise a great job of creating the era. I loved the costumes – the oversized blazers, wearing the pants above your waists, the hairstyles, the moustache, the dimly lit interiors with mostly yellow light from the bulbs, the kind of mic the commentators used, vintage cars, rickshaw and much more.
Cinephiles and mature audience are able to notice this more than others and you won’t hear about this from the “goosebumps” wali janta. These things play with the viewers minds. If they are not done well, you may not notice it but it will hamper your experience. The art of good filmmaking includes detailing.
Football Matches – The Best On-Screen Presentation
Not many football films are made in India, but out of all, the execution of this one was exceptional. they way they shot the matches, the camera angles, the way they were edited, it was just fantastic. Editing is an art and it can make or break a scene/sequence with the same footage. Here, the makers were able to pull the audience in as if they were watching it in the stadium.
My theatre was about 70% full, which is quite high for a 10pm show on Wednesday night. Not all but 50% of the crowed was cheering and clapping (including me) as the matches happened, especially the final match. With every goal saved, came a yayyyy, with every goal missed came a oohhhh. Felt like the theatre changed into a stadium. The first clapping happened when Ajay Devgn replied to the coach of the rival team regarding a rematch, and maximum in the final match.
Writing
Maidaan is a good film, people are liking it. But why is it so that it is not talk of the town? Why did it not soar like Shaitaan did just a few weeks ago? The answer is story. There are some common elements in almost every sports film. Lack of money, lack of support from association, someone at high position who does not care about the sport or players, a determined coach, talented and dedicated players, training montage, winning in the end.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong in this.. there are a few things what are common between films in the same genre. It happens around the world. But in how many sports films have you seen this before? I can name 10 at the moment. the only reason to mention this is, the audience wants to see new things and if they don’t get that, they do not feel excited about it. Look at examples of all the films that were a post-pandemic. You will find this one common reason in most of the films, whether they worked or not.
What I Wanted More Of
There was a chemistry between coach Rahim and the players. Everyone respected him a lot and director Amit Sharma showed this through various scenes throughout the film. But we did not get to see the interaction of Rahim saab with the players much, except the recruitment and that one scene with Chuni Goswami. I wanted to see more of him coaching the players, working on their strengths and weaknesses, building strategies, etc.
The story mentions ki Rahim saab pata nahi kya bolte hain players ko ki second half mein game hi palat jata hai. Jab ek player ko sar pe chot lagti hai, khoon nikalta hai aur wo retire ho jata hai, coach Rahim says, “iska hisab chahiye mujhe,” and the players avenge him by winning. So we know unke beech kuch toh bahaut sahi bond hai. Lekin uss bond ko develop hota dekhna chahta tha main. Jitna bhi association ki politics and baki sab tha, wo bhi zaruri tha but wo cut short karke ispe focus karte toh zyada accha hota.
Rahim says, “Main aise players dhund raha hu jinhe main kisi bhi position pe khila sakta hu.” And that comes full circle in the last match. But wo dikhane ka ek tareeka hota hai na, jaise dots connect karte hain kisi heist movie mein, jaise Iqbal movie mein Chakravyuh wala scene, Chak De India mein passing ya penalty wala scene, Dangal mein wo end mein finishing move, thoda sa wo alag tareeke se dikhana chahiye tha, impact badh jata hai.
Yes, you can say it’s a creative choice and main jo bol raha hu wo zaruri nahi hota har bar. I agree. But can you now compare how these scenes in these movies made you feel in the theatre back then, vs how you felt in Maidaan?
Direction
How I mentioned small details increase the impact of the film, small mistakes also decrease the impact of the film. Maidaan is technically brilliant in many aspects, yet there are a few things due to which it was unable to create the sensation which it could have.
Amit Sharma did many things right in Maidaan. People are able to watch a 3 hour long film in today’s time means the film is engaging. But given the times we are in, there needs to be something more in order to make money. People are coming out saying it is nice but not telling others “Bro, don’t miss this.” The engagement factor throughout the was more in Dangal, Chak De India, Sultan, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Giving two examples of fiction and two of real stories to show what is that element X that is missing in the film, which is stopping it from bigger collections, despite a very positive word of mouth.
Music and BGM
BMG was good but could have been better. There should have been a central theme music. It really helps in elevating the scene. Songs in such movies also have a lot of impact. Team India Hain Hum was good but not that great. Other songs were mostly in the background. Good music also helps in marketing.
Verdict
It is definitely not a perfect film, nor the can be called the best sports film from Bollywood. But it is definitely a great film with solid performances and emotions. If you watch it in theatres, you will not regret it. The last match is a show-stealer. Try watching in a packed theatre because when everyone cheers on goals and saves, you get the feeling of the stadium.
Also check out Fighter and Animal Phone Wallpapers here
Stay tuned to OCD Times for more updates. Do check out our other social accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Leave a Reply