After
helming
Arjun
Kapoor's
Tevar
and
Ayushmann
Khurrana's
Badhaai
Ho,
director
Amit
Sharma's
next
is
a
sports
drama
titled
Maidaan
starring
Ajay
Devgn
as
the
legendary
football
coach
Syed
Abdul
Rahim.
The
actor
started
shooting
for
the
final
schedule
of
the
film
on
February
14,
2021.
In
an
interaction
with
Spotboye,
Amit
Sharma
opened
up
about
wrapping
up
the
final
portions
of
his
film
and
was
all
praise
for
his
main
lead.
Speaking
about
Maidaan's
outdoor
schedule,
the
filmmaker
shared,
"We
go
right
up
till
the
end
of
April
with
this
schedule.
We're
shooting
all
the
major
football
matches
with
real
football
players.
We
will
take
very
short
breaks
in-between
keeping
in
mind
minor
injuries
that
may
happen
during
shooting."
The
director
opened
up
about
shooting
with
real
football
players
and
said,
"I
had
to
look
for
football
players
who
could
act,
and
not
actors
who
would
pretend
to
play
football.
Not
even
actors
who
couple
play
reasonably
well.
It
had
to
be
really
good
footballers
who
could
act.
I
think
I've
got
what
I
wanted."
Further,
Amit
heaped
praises
on
Ajay
Devgn
and
was
quoted
as
saying,
"The
level
of
dedication
Ajay
Sir
has
shown
has
to
be
seen
to
be
believed.
He
has
not
only
sharpened
his
skills
as
a
footballer,
he
made
sure
he
was
all
there
for
the
project
from
the
word
go.
Maidaan
couldn't
have
been
made
without
Ajay
sir.I
think
he
deserves
another
National
award."
The
superstar
had
previously
bagged
the
National
Award
for
Best
Actor
for
Mukesh
Bhatt's
1998
film
Zakhm
and
Raj
Kumar
Santoshi's
2002
film
The
Legend
Of
Bhagat
Singh.
Maidaan
stars
south
actress
Priyamani
as
the
female
lead.
Speaking
about
her
role,
Sharma
said
that
she
has
enough
space
in
the
film
and
has
done
a
wonderful
job.
Earlier,
Mahanati
actress
Keerthy
Suresh
was
to
play
the
part
of
Ajay
Devgn's
on-screen
wife,
and
had
even
shot
for
the
film
for
a
day.
However,
the
makers
felt
that
she
looked
"too
young" for
the
part.
Eventually,
Priyamani
stepped
into
her
shoes.
Maidaan
is
based
on
the
golden
years
of
Indian
football.
Produced
by
by
Zee
Studios,
Boney
Kapoor,
Akash
Chawla
and
Arunava
Joy
Sengupta,
the
film
is
slated
to
release
on
October
15,
2021.