'Maidaan' not a cliched sports films: Filmmaker Amit Sharma

Mumbai: Filmmaker Amit Sharma says he will not be following the usual tropes of a typical Bollywood sports drama with his upcoming movie "Maidaan".

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The film will chronicle the golden years of Indian football and features Ajay Devgn as the legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim.

"It is a story of a person who has done a lot. I am not calling it a biopic, I am calling it the golden era of Indian football. The film is about that. So the challenge is how to make this in the best way," Amit told PTI.

Rahim served the Indian football team as coach and manager from 1950-1963. It was under his guidance that the Indian football team won gold at the 1962 Asian Games and he also led the team to the semi-finals of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Amit says though the film is bigger in scale, his attempt is to tell the story in a new way.

"The scale is bigger, football is there, sports is there, but it won't be going in the cliche zone. We are trying to give it a fresh perspective. That's the challenge," he adds.

Amit is aware that all eyes are on him post the twin wins of his 2018 directorial "Badhaai Ho" at the National Films Awards. The film was also his first production.

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Going forward, Amit says it will be his endeavour to make and back films which have "amazing" stories.

"I will be producing and directing more films through my banner. When you get a National Award for the first film you produce, the challenge is to make sure whatever comes out next from here should also be amazing.

"It can't be that we will make anything just because 'Badhaai Ho' was a hit. No, it doesn't work like that. Even if I am not directing and only producing with my partners, it has to be something which is talked about."

There were also reports that a sequel to "Badhaai Ho" is underway but the director says he isn't aware of this development.

"There have been no discussions from my end on this. As of now, I have not thought of any story for 'Badhaai Ho 2'," he added.

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