Indian football is going through one of the most horrendous phases in its history. Its present world ranking in the FIFA list is 121 out of the 210 affiliated countries. Despite the presence of a highly paid foreign coach named Igor Stimac, the Indian team suffered an ignominious loss to Afghanistan recently.
At this unhappy time, like a breath of fresh air, the film Maidaan has been released to take us back to the golden days of Indian football. The historic achievements were all due to the tireless efforts of one man and a bunch of talented and highly motivated players who overcame huge odds to put India ahead of many nations back in the 1950s and 1960s. India came 4th in the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 and won the Asian Games gold medal twice.
The man who engineered the spectacular rise of Indian football was a humble school teacher from Hyderabad named Syed Abdul Rahim. With very little financial resources at his disposal, Rahim relied on an abundant sense of patriotism and his detailed knowledge of tactics to topple the better equipped rival teams.
Deserves even more
Seldom has one man made so much difference in Indian sports. Every line that has ever been written about him, every time he has been praised and now this film that has been made about him is well deserved. In fact he deserves more.
The film is long but worth every minute of its time. No doubt a few facts have been given a twist to make the situation more dramatic, but one has to allow a little cinematic liberty. After all it’s a film and has to attract a large audience, all of whom may not be die hard football fans.
Opinion of a former Indian team captain
According to Victor Amalraj, former captain of India and also three elite Kolkata clubs, the commitment and dedication of coach Rahim has been depicted well in various incidents. “I’m glad that a film was made on Rahim Saab who took Indian football from the barefoot era to the modern one and put India on the global map with victories in the Asian Games of 1951 and 1962 as well as the 4th place at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.”
“Seeing actors playing the roles of Peter Thangaraj, P.K. Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and others took me back to the days when I used to meet them regularly. Thangaraj Anna, Kannan Anna and Balaram Anna often visited my house in Bolarum. Ajay Devgn has done a good job in portraying Rahim Saab so I thoroughly enjoyed the film,” said Amalraj.
Apart from Ajay Devgn the film has Priyamani as Saira Rahim, Gajraj Rao as a villainous newspaper editor who tries to scuttle Rahim’s plans, his sidekick Subhankar acted by Rudranil Ghosh and various actors playing the role of different players. The running time is 181 minutes but not one minute is boring.
It can be ranked among the best sports themed films produced in India along with Amir Khan’s Lagaan and Dangal or Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De India or Bhag Milkha Bhag and 83. The emotions evoked by the film are the same that were felt while watching those wonderful films.
Rahim is a hero in Hyderabad
When this correspondent watched the film, the audience reaction was spontaneous and thrilling. Every goal by the Indian players on the screen was greeted with cheering and clapping. When Rahim won his political battle within the federation and was reappointed as coach, many in the audience stood up and clapped. It was clear that Rahim is still a hero in Hyderabad. At the end of the film when the real Rahim’s photo was shown, the entire hall burst into loud applause.
So if the film motivates youngsters to develop their skills and if the standard of Indian football rises out of its present slump, then Rahim Saab’s dreams will bear fruit once again. His vision has the potential to reach across generations to inspire the youth of present day India and make the country’s flag fly at the topmost position once more.
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