Mumbai, April 10 (IANS): Actor Abhilash Thapliyal, who essays the role of commentator Dev Matthews in the Ajay Devgn-starrer ‘Maidaan’, lost out on the film before he was chosen for the role.

The actor said that the director of the film, Amit Sharma had called him in 2018 and asked him to start learning football.

He told IANS: “I trained for a month or so but couldn’t crack the audition. I was in touch with him throughout and even went to see the shoot once, I knew what he is creating would be a masterpiece.”

“Later in 2022 I again got a call from him and he asked me to be the narrator of the film, I happily agreed. We jammed on the script for 4-5 days and straight went for the shoot. He gave me a free hand to create Dev Matthews, the commentator.”

For his role in ‘Maidaan’, the actor drew from his experience as a radio jockey. He shared that through his role in the film, he provides the viewer with a deeper understanding of each match, the stakes of each match and the personal journeys of the characters involved in ‘Maidaan’.

He said, “I think for the first time commentary has been made such an integral part of the storytelling.

Talking about his upcoming projects, he said: “Desperately waiting for Indian audiences to see ‘Kennedy’, just finished a beautiful short film for festivals, will speak about a couple of more very interesting projects when the time comes.”