It seems like a season of biopics in Bollywood. Ranbir Kapoor starrer Sanju is still ruling the box-office and Soorma, a film on hockey player Sandeep Singh, has hit the theatres on Friday. Now, Ajay Devgn has announced that he will play the role of Syed Abdul Rahim in a sports biopic which will be directed by ad filmmaker Amit Sharma. The announcement was made by Zee Studios on its Twitter handle on Friday morning.
“Elated and proud to announce a story never told as @ZeeStudios_ #BoneyKapoor & @freshlimefilms come together for a biopic on India’s legendary #Football coach, Syed Abdul Rahim, starring @ajaydevgn, directed by @CinemaPuraDesi, screenplay by @SaiwynQ, and dialogues by @writish,” the tweet read.
All you need to know about Syed Abdul Rahim –
India is often referred to as ‘the sleeping giant’ by football fans and the only man to wake it up was Syed Abdul Rahim who served as Indian football team’s 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.
Born in 1909, he started as a coach and secretary of Hyderabad City Police in 1943. Rahim is known as the architect of modern Indian football. A teacher by profession, he was a good motivator and his tenure as a coach is regarded as a “golden age” of football in India.
Apart from winning the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962, Rahim also helped India reach the semi-finals of 1956 Melbourne Olympics which remains to be the biggest achievement of the team. Many great Indian players like Chunni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Balaram, Franco and Arun Ghosh played under him.
Rahim’s last success was at the Jakarta Asian games in 1962 where India went on to win gold, beating South Korea in the finals in front of a crowd of 100,000. He died of cancer at the age of 54. Rahim’s son Syed Shahid Hakim was selected in the Indian team for the 1960 Summer Olympics tournament.
The movie will be produced by Zee Studios, Boney Kapoor, Akash Chawla and Joy Sengupta and is yet to be titled. The makers have chosen the best time to announce the film as the football fever has taken over the entire nation in the wake of FIFA World Cup 2018. Apart from this, Ajay Devgn will also act in a biopic on Chanakya.
