Ajay Devgn is set to play the character of legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The biopic will be directed by Amit Sharma and is yet to be titled.
The announcement comes a day after Devgn said that he will be playing the epic character of Chanakya in a film directed by Neeraj Pandey.
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. pic.twitter.com/vzaLJya67x
— Zee Studios (@ZeeStudios_) July 13, 2018
Abdul Rahim served the Indian football team as its coach and manager from 1950-63. It was under his leadership that the Indian team struck goal at the 1962 Asian Games and he also led the team to the semi-finals of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
The legendary coach died of cancer at the age of 54.
“Ajay Devgn to star in biopic on legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim... Amit Sharma will direct the film
IT’S OFFICIAL... Ajay Devgn to star in biopic on legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim... Amit Sharma will direct the film
... Produced by Zee Studios, Boney Kapoor, Akash Chawla and Joy Sengupta... Screenplay and dialogue by Saiwyn Quadras and Ritesh Shah. pic.twitter.com/MbhCvvHBrZ — taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 13, 2018
“I was amazed that not many are aware of someone as significant as Syed Abdul Rahim. He’s an unsung hero whose achievements must be saluted. His team had heroes like Chunni Goswami, P.K. Banerjee, Balaram, Franco and Arun Ghosh. It takes someone like Ajay Devgn to play Syed Abdul Rahim. With him on board, I can just hope that our film inspires youngsters to play football, and India soon to bring the World Cup home,†Boney Kapoor told a leading media house.