“Had My Doubts”: Maidaan Director On Ajay Devgn Playing Role Of Syed Abdul Rahim
Ajay Devgn's upcoming Hindi movie 'Maidaan' will be releasing in cinemas on April 10, 2024.
Having wowed fans with acting in ‘Shaitaan’, Ajay Devgn will be seen in a whole new avatar as he brings to the big screen the story of legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The biographical sports drama, directed by Amit Sharma and produced by Boney Kapoor, is slated to hit theatres on the occasion of Eid on April 10. This will be a new challenge for Ajay Devgn as this will be his first foray into sports drama. Speaking about casting Ajay Devgn for the role of Syed Abdul Rahim, even director Amit Sharma admitted that he had his doubts as his image of the actor was set on ‘Singham’.
“Ajay sir said yes to Maidaan just by listening to the subject, there were no questions asked. However, I had my doubts about how Ajay Devgn will play the role of Syed Abdul Rahim. We often create an image in our minds, and in my head, his image was of Singham,” Amit Sharma was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
However, Amit Sharma was all praise for Ajay Devgn’s “transformation from Singham to Syed Abdul Rahim” for Maidaan.
The ‘Maidaan’ director then even went on to say that no one other than Ajay Devgn could have played the role of the legendary football coach.
“Syed Abdul Rahim was a very humble man, we did a lot of research, I met players, and I met Hakim sir, who is Rahimji’s son. I started to find out about his mannerisms, the way he spoke, and then I met Ajay sir again and told him I didn’t see many dialogues in the film. I even told him about giving a narration and telling him about Syed Abdul Rahim.”
“I gave him a one-hour narration and he just told me, ‘Tell me what am I supposed to do’. He is a director’s actor and will never question them, I saw this man’s transformation from Singham Ajay Devgn to Syed Abdul Rahim in Maidaan. Today I openly say it, nobody could have played this role other than Ajay Devgn,” added Amit Sharma.
The sports drama ‘Maidaan tells the story of football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. He had played a key role in putting India on the football map.
Apart from Ajay Devgn, the movie also stars Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, and Rudranil Ghosh.
