Maidaan Movie Review: Mein? Done, bhai!

MaidaanUA Sports dramaDir Amit Ravindernath SharmaCast Ajay Devgn Gajraj RaoRating 25I guess we know why people say ldquoShot like a dreamrdquo for a film thatrsquos shot well Whatrsquos a movie if not a dream no Maidaan is similarly stunning to look at Unsure about IMAX that the film is also available in the aesthetics certainly match the size of the big screenEspecially once you consider that itrsquos a movie about sports after allmdashshooting and cuttingediting of which is a specialised skill in itself Soccer on TV doesnrsquot look the same Because itrsquos relayed live This is more patiently painstakingly picturisedWhether itrsquos the dribbling and drubbing between the legs or the backshotsilhouette of the Indian football team entering the fieldmaidaan including stock footage over three Olympics and an Asian Games between 1950s and early rsquo60sWhatrsquos the goal behind all of this At the centre of this production design is the hero Ajay Devgn whorsquos made being understated into such an underrated artform that we still donrsquot quite appreciate how quietly he pulls off varied mainstream roles Even as his character at one point becomes critically ill in this movie This performance will earn him critical acclaimAlthough hersquos literally been handed one prop throughout the pic which is the cancer stick between his lips that he puffs all along while coughing wheezing bleedinghellipThe statutory warning of the cigarette being injurious to health is of course perennially displayed on the screen Making no difference to the life of this determined lsquosmokeaholicrsquo PoofPardon the interpretation the only pressing point of this pic that I could sense is the same that Akshay Kumar makes to his friend Nandu before every movie showmdashsmoking kills Maidaan is the longest publicservice ad ever in that regardSince we can see whatrsquos destroying the heromdashsurely the cancer canrsquot be the main villain That in fact is a strange creature with actor Gajraj Rao wonderfully morphed into the human formThis gentleman is Indiarsquos best sports journalist plus publisher plus editor plus reporter who can ldquomake and break governmentsrdquomdashblessed with a passion for footballOnly that this fellow incessantly canrsquot stand the sight of the Indian soccer team even competing at top global events let alone winning or performing wellHersquos got an even lowlier lackey Rudranil Ghosh heading the football federation Between these two blokes yoursquove got the corniest antagonists known to moviesmankindWhereas the villain could simply be the circumstance Which is that Indians have never traditionally been great at worldclass football But they came close to glory of sortsmdashover the years that the national team had a coach named Syed Abdul RahimMaidaan is hitherto undiscovered Rahimrsquos biopic in a sense He was from Hyderabad Perhaps thatrsquos why Devgn in this lead role I felt somewhat giving off a Mohd Azharuddin vibeIrsquom not presently qualified to factcheck this film The series of larger events certainly seem researched even if possibly exaggeratedNot that sticking to facts is any measure of a good movie Take the fabulous Chak De India 2007 for instance It was based on the life of former goalkeeper and legendary hockey coach Mir Ranjan Negimdashturned into a Muslim protagonist Kabir Khan in the movie whose patriotism gets questioned in lieu of his religionThat was a central conflict in Chak De Which obviously had nothing to do with Negirsquos own life But it made for a legit storyIn fact given the subject for bigbudget Bollywood Maidaan will inevitably get benchmarked against Chak De Or why that was such a superior film The reasons are too obvious Chak De tightly scripted by Jaideep Sahni stuck to the team players and their coachThis onersquos got a coach and hardly the team to focus on But so much of unrelated randomness going on all through that it feels like a full federation wrote this film It didJust count the names on its writing credit on Wikipedia besides the director Amit Ravindernath Sharma Tevar Badhaai Ho himself Saiwyn Quadras Aman Rai Atul Shahi Ritesh Shah Sidhant Mago Akash Chawla Arunava Joy SenguptaMaybe thatrsquos the issue Imagine handpicking such fine faces to reprise Indiarsquos greatest football stars the likes of PK Banerjee Neville DrsquoSouza Chuni Goswamimdashbut hardly if ever delving into their lives let alone motivationsConcentrating instead on two bumbling Bengalis for saltandpepper villains indulging in gondogol and goalmaal over rosogolla and singhara Stretching the story to over 180 minutes still At some point after halftime of Maidaan I could hear myself go ldquoOkay then Irsquom donerdquo

Maidaan Movie Review: Mein? Done, bhai!

Maidaan
U/A: Sports, drama
Dir: Amit Ravindernath Sharma
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Gajraj Rao
Rating: 2/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Maidaan Movie Review: Mein? Done, bhai!

Maidaan Movie Review: Mein? Done, bhai!

MaidaanU/A: Sports, dramaDir: Amit Ravindernath SharmaCast: Ajay Devgn, Gajraj RaoRating: 2/5

Trending Stories

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Maidaan
U/A: Sports, drama
Dir: Amit Ravindernath Sharma
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Gajraj Rao
Rating: 2/5