The film Maidaan which depicts the struggles and achievements of Hyderabad’s legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, has won the Best Asian Film award in the Septimius Film Awards of 2024. The award ceremony was held on August 19 and 20 at the Tuschinski Theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The website of the Septimius organisation mentions: The Septimius Awards is a prestigious award ceremony with a strong emphasis on discovering and encouraging new independent talent, supporting visionary films, and bringing together all elements of film-making and storytelling. It includes fiction, non-fiction, animation, television series, and scripts. We showcase a wide range of genres from Drama to Documentary.
The award ceremony has a wide range of attendees that include winners of the Emmy, BAFTA and Oscar awards.
What makes the Septimius Awards unique is that, unlike most such award ceremonies, the films are split into their respective continents. This creates a greater global representation of talent in the arts of acting and film-making.
Actor Gajraj Rao thrilled
Reacting to the success of Maidaan, actor Gajraj Rao posted on his Instagram handle that he is thrilled and deeply honoured that Maidaan has got the Septimius Award as Best Asian Film. In the film, Gajraj Rao plays the role of Roy Chaudhary, a powerful journalist who is against the selection policies of coach Rahim. Roy Chaudhary alleges that Rahim selects players from Hyderabad while neglecting players from Bengal. However, at the end of the film Rahim’s decisions are proved right.
More good news
There was further good news for India. The Best Asian Actor award went to Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub for his role in the television series Scoop. It is a crime drama series that received ten nominations in the 2023 Filmfare OTT awards.
Controversy laid to rest
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the film Maidaan and the allegation that Rahim’s family had not been paid royalties by the film makers, has been laid to rest. First, the legal representative of filmmaker Boney Kapoor denied that any injustice was done to the coach’s family.
Later Mrs. Syeda Sadia, daughter-in-law of Rahim, told the media that all allegations made against the makers of the film were false. In a statement she said that she condemned the rumours that the filmmakers had not fulfilled their commitments to the family members. The entire family was totally satisfied and proud that a film had been produced about S.A. Rahim.
Sports University in Hyderabad
Another noteworthy development that has happened in Hyderabad is the announcement by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy that a sports university will be set up near Hyderabad to encourage the growth of sports in the region.
After the conclusion of the NMDC Hyderabad marathon on Sunday, the Chief Minister announced that the government of Telangana is planning to establish a Sports University in the next academic year to produce young players who will be able to win medals in the Olympic Games.
Based on Korean model
He said that the Sports University would rope in foreign coaches to train the athletes. The Chief Minister said that during a visit to South Korea, he saw the Korean National Sports University in Seoul, which has produced several athletes who have won medals in the Olympic Games.
An agreement was reached with the South Korean Sports University for setting up a similar Sports University in Hyderabad. Revanth Reddy said that he has also requested the central government to organise the Olympics in Hyderabad when India bids for the 2036 Olympic Games. If everything goes according to the Telangana government’s plans, Hyderabad could become a top-class sports hub of India.
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