'Maidaan' review: Ajay powers thumping, adrenaline-filled, emotionally resonant sports biopic
Ajay Devgn is having an incredibly exciting phase; his two films (Shaitaan and Maidaan) are in theaters, and both couldn't be far different from each other in terms of their genres and his roles. While Shaitaan was about him taking the backseat, Maidaan is about him occupying every scene with utmost command, eventually delivering an overlong but emotionally poignant, consistently engaging sports biopic.
The story of 'Maidaan'
Maidaan is the biopic of the late Syed Abdul Rahim, who coached India during the "golden era of Indian football" and helped the team unprecedentedly snatch away victory from global top teams. It begins with a match at the 1952 Summer Olympics, where Indian players, due to a tragic lack of resources, played barefoot, and ends with India's triumph at the 1962 Asian Games.
How the games were incredibly important for Rahim
From early on, the football team's victory becomes a rite of passage for Rahim. Not glory, fame, or money, but he aspires for India's respect on the global front, and it's incredible to see the story of a perseverant man who gave the country his all. Eventually, the maidaan (field) takes on a larger meaning—not just the players' test, but of Rahim's determination, too.
Recreation of old times and metaphors
Director Amit Ravindernath Sharma has leveraged color grading, radio, and print media, among others, to recreate the era gone by (the 1950s and 1960s). Also interesting is rain as a metaphor—it always rains each time a consequent moment takes place, and it paves the way for a significant scene. Rain can be a harbinger of doom, but here, often, it's a herald of hope.
Watch it for the football scenes!
I may be a novice when it comes to football, but Maidaan's well-acted, well-filmed game scenes had such an impact on me that I might have perhaps forgotten to blink. More so in the climax—its rousing, thumping, replete with adrenaline climax is executed in such a way that despite knowing the outcome, you wish to keep watching. In that lies the film's biggest triumph.
Devgn is in almost every frame and never disappoints
Devgn's eyes have an acting career of their own, and here too, coupled with his signature calm and composure, he knocks it out of the park in nearly every scene. Not every piece of good acting needs to be loud, not every dialogue needs to echo, and in fact, sometimes, the best kind of acting is subtle and restrained. This is where Devgn shines.
However, its runtime wears the movie down
When a film is three hours long, it needs to justify every scene, every dialogue, and every character—what is that can't be said in a shorter runtime? Here, Maidaan stumbles more than once; its 181-minute-long runtime can sometimes break the momentum and some scenes seem like a replica of the ones we have already seen. A crisper version would have worked wonders.
We recommend watching it theatrically; 3.5/5 stars
On more than one occasion, I felt as if I was watching not a film but a match unfolding in real-time, and the acting, coupled with the camerawork and AR Rahman's music, made me well up more than once (not a complaint). Rahim passed away shortly after this historic victory, almost as if his fate, his sole purpose, was written in the stars.
