Ajay Devgn to play football coach Syed Abdul Rahim

The FIFA World Cup has reached its final stage — Croatia and France are gearing up to knock each other out in the finale on Sunday to take the world cup home. While soccer fever has gripped the world with its unpredictable run at the world cup, on the home turf in India, preparations have begun to salute a man credited for the golden age of football in the country. BT EXCLUSIVELY has it that a biopic on Syed Abdul Rahim, regarded as the architect of modern Indian football, is underway. Ajay Devgn will emulate Rahim, the football coach and the manager of the Indian National Football team that entered the semi-finals of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Football tournament.

This made India the first ever Asian country to get that far in football. Rahim was a teacher by profession and a motivator whose tenure as a coach is regarded as the golden age of football in India. It’s said that at that time, India was considered the Brazil of Asia, thanks to its football talent. Not only did the team under Rahim’s supervision win praises, but it also beat some of the top teams in the world to win the gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta. The team had defeated South Korea, one of the toughest sides at that time.

Ajay will step into Rahim’s shoes in the biopic, backed by Boney Kapoor and directed by Amit Sharma. Boney has previously collaborated with Amit on ‘Tevar’ and years ago with Ajay on ‘Company’.

When we reached out to Boney, he confirmed the development, saying, “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.”