Maidaan’s downfall: Experts analyse why Boney Kapoor and Ajay Devgn’s sports drama bombed at the box office

Ajay Devgn as Syed Abdul Rahim in a still from Maidaan

Actor Ajay Devgn returned to the silver screen last week with Maidaan, clashing at theatres with Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. Produced by Boney Kapoor, Maidaan follows the life story of coach Syed Abdul Rahim, better known as the architect of modern football in India. Even though both the films released on Eid, an extended weekend, they failed to attract audiences. Maidaan raked in a disappointing collection of just ₹ ₹7.25 crores. Made on a budget of ₹250 crores, the film is staggering a week later despite slashed ticket prices. According to Sacnilk, the biographical sports drama stands at a total collection of ₹28.7 crores. Well, we got in touch with experts to find out the real reason why Devgn’s movie bombed miserably at the box office.

Producer and film business expert Girish Johar believes the audience could not relate to this Boney Kapoor production. He shares, “I think Maidaan did not do well for quite a few reasons. I feel that the audience somehow could not connect with the film. Despite getting good reviews from certain reviewers, the audience felt that it was duration-wise a little long. The music of the film also could not connect with the audiences. So there were a couple of points which the audiences found and couldn’t connect with the film.” Talking about the competition with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, he explains, “There are umpteen instances in the past in which if a film is good and the other film is bad, the good film obviously runs. So here both the films could not connect with the audiences for their own respective reasons.”

Film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh, on the other hand, felt the timing of release was off. He shares, “The first half, for me, was not too strong but the second half was brilliant and the final penalty moments were superb. Overall, it was a very well-made film and unfortunately, the timing of the release was not right. It’s a drama film, a drama-based and content film and people, during festivals, want to go out and watch entertainers, larger-than-life experiences, not a serious subject. So this was not an apt film for an Eid release. Having said that, you can also say that it got impacted by Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, which also has failed at the box office. But yes, Maidaan was also a non-starter at the box office.” Calling it one of Devgn’s finest performances, Adarsh adds, “Unfortunately when the film doesn’t work, you don’t really remember the hard work that has gone into it. You only remember ki yeh toh flop ho gayi thi.”

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