Amit R Sharma: ‘Told casting director I want humshakals’

Updated On: 06 April, 2024 07:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu

Maidaan director on how he went through 6,000 audition tapes to find 11 actors who’d portray PK Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and other football greats in his sports drama

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Ajay Devgn in Maidaan

How does one cast for a biopic? In the words of Maidaan’s director Amit R Sharma, you get someone who resembles the real person. But it doesn’t end there. The Ajay Devgn-led sports drama, based on the life of manager-coach Syed Abdul Rahim, traces the Indian football team’s rise in the international arena between 1952 and 1962. So, the film also demanded actors who played the sport. “I wanted people who can play football, act well, and match the [original players’] physicality to the T,” starts Sharma. “I made my casting director Vaibhav’s [Vishant] life hell. I told him, ‘I want humshakals’.”

Arun Ghosh is played by Aaman Munshi