Kenny Dalglish had two simple requests before he agreed to a documentary on his life

Asif Kapadia spoke to the Liverpool ECHO in an exclusive interview about his new documentary on the life of Sir Kenny Dalglish

Sir Kenny Dalglish with director Asif Kapadia at the Liverpool screening of a documentary based on his life(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Asif Kapadia admits the latest subject of his celebrated documentary career is slightly different than his previous work. The Academy Award winning director has won critical acclaim for his series of incredible features on the lives of Ayrton Senna, Amy Winehouse and Diego Maradona.

Sir Kenny Dalglish may not be as complicated a figure as those late stars, but the Liverpool FC icon equally defined a generation – and Asif told the ECHO in an exclusive interview why he was drawn to his story. The 53-year-old said: “This is a different one because this is personal. This is the guy whose picture I had on my wall. I was born in the 70s so I remember when Kenny joined [Liverpool FC from Celtic].

“For me, he was my hero so it was really weird making a film and getting to know the guy whose picture you had on your wall when you were a kid. But also when that opportunity comes, I thought that doesn’t happen often, so I’ve got to do it.

“I’ve got to make a film for people like me of my generation who remember him, but also my kids’ generation who’ve never seen him play. They might have seen the odd YouTube clip, but they only really know him from playing FIFA.” Asif wanted to capture the person, as well as the player, and Dalglish’s humble everyman quality is what makes his life story even more extraordinary.

In addition to being one of the greatest players to ever grace the turf at Anfield, the legendary Scot will always be on the right side of history for the remarkable way he stood up for a city and club in mourning in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. The documentary candidly explores the responsibility he shouldered during this period as the-then Liverpool FC manager attended every one of the funerals and was always there for the grieving families.

The Scot doesn’t consider what he did to be anything out of the ordinary and Asif said people who aren’t interested in football have been captured by the 74-year-old’s humanity. He told the ECHO: “People that don’t like football have seen it and they just fall in love with him, because he’s a good man.”

The old adage is “don’t meet your heroes” but Asif said this couldn’t be further from the truth from his experiences with Dalglish. Speaking about the process, he said: “I’m lucky because sometimes you meet a hero and they’re actually better than how you remember them. I just saw the guy on TV, who didn’t like being interviewed so he’d always be putting the interviewer down, but then you meet him away from that.

“I don’t have a camera or a crew so when I was working with him, I just record audio and everything I do visually is using archive. He was really relaxed with that way of working.

“He’s just sharp and so witty. He’ll make a gag and you’ve got to keep up with Kenny. He remembers everything, he’s a stickler for detail.” He added: “He’s sharp and intelligent. In all the films that I’ve done, all the characters, if there’s something that runs through them, it’s that they’re really smart.”

Director Asif Kapadia photographed by the ECHO’s Iain Watts(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Asif said the process of working with the iconic number seven couldn’t have been easier as he praised his professionalism. While a celebrity’s rider (their requirements for a job) have become infamous in the entertainment industry, Asif explained how Dalglish’s couldn’t have been more simple. He said: “All he’d need to know is, ‘Where can I park the car?'”

“He’d want a couple of cans of Irn Bru, and a family sized Dairy Milk. That’s all he’d asked for. We did radio interviews, we’d just be doing audio, but he’d be dressed in a suit and we’d talk for hours and he’d be off with his Dairy Milk and his Irn Bru.”

Asif was born in Hackney in the 1970s and said he was drawn to Liverpool FC because he could relate to the city and the club’s working class identity. He said: “Thatcherism is a big part of my growing up. There was always this affinity with what happened to Liverpool and the way the Tories dealt with and treated Liverpudlians.

“My other film, Diego Maradona was about Naples and there’s a similar thing in Naples within the Italian culture in Italy. It has that sort of place where it’s outside of the establishment That’s kind of my vibe. Most of my films are about characters like that.”

Dalglish stood up for Liverpool in this context and Asif said the forward felt at home in Liverpool because of its shared identity with his native Glasgow. He said: “Liverpool just feels like Glasgow. It’s the same vibe.” He added: “He stood up for the people. That’s what makes him and the city so special.”

The ECHO spoke to the documentary maker at the Liverpool premiere of the film last weekend. Kenny Dalglish was in cinemas for two nights this week and will arrive on Prime Video on November 4.

Asif is proud he was able to pay tribute to his hero with the documentary, as he said it’s timely to do this while they’re still alive to hear about how much they mattered to the people they represented. He said: “Making this film gives everyone in Liverpool, everyone who adores him all over the world a chance to let him know while he’s [still] there. Don’t wait until they’re gone to say how important they are to our lives.”

Kenny Dalglish arrives on Prime Video on November 4.