Football legend Diego Maradona, 60, passed away at his home in Tigre, Argentina, after suffering a heart attack on November 25. Oscar-winning British filmmaker Asif Kapadia was in Mumbai in October 2019 for the special screening of his documentary on the football legend. Back then, he spoke to BT about exploring the unknown side of Maradona and his interactions with the flamboyant football icon:

Explaining why he wanted to tell the story of someone who was accomplished, but flawed, Kapadia says, “The idea was to try to get to know him, talk to him and reveal something new, beyond what has already been written or said about him. That was the challenge. So many books have been written about him, TV shows made on him, stories online, what else is there to say? My film says something new and discovers the side of him that people didn’t know. The period of his life that people know the least about, is when he played in Italy. My film captured that.”

Talking about unmasking the real Maradona behind the famous persona, the filmmaker said, “Very few people are as difficult as Diego Maradona. I am fascinated by complicated and imperfect characters. I wanted to tell a story and reveal some truths, but you cannot push someone to talk to you. They will talk when they are ready. That process is important. When you see the Maradona film, you realise there were a lot of damaged people around him. A lot of things happened. It was cathartic. Real stories are emotionally more powerful than fiction. The highs and lows... the emotional journey that he went through is what all of us go through in our own way.”

Recalling his interaction with the football legend, Kapadia shared, “Documentaries aren’t quick turnover. It’s important to be patient and build trust. I met Maradona four or five times in Dubai, which was a total of 10 hours. It took him time to open up to me so the multiple meetings were required. I did 80 interviews for the Maradona documentary, talking to people who were there at the time.”