Ajay Devgn's super ambitious film, made in Rs 250 crore turned out to be box office bomb, earned only Rs 53 crore, it is...

Based on the 'golden era of Indian football' from 1952 to 1962, the biographical sports drama Maidaan was released in 2024. Ajay Devgn portrayed the legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim, under whose leadership India won the gold medals in Asian Games in 1951 and 1962, and reached the semi-finals of the 1956 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Asian country to do.

The film's shooting began in August 2019 and suffered many delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Mumbai cyclone. The first release date for Maidaan was announced as December 11, 2020. It was then pushed forward to August 13, 2021. The film suffered post-production delays and its new release date was announced as June 3, 2022. But due to extensive VFX work, the film was delayed again, and finally hit theatres on April 10, 2024 on the occasion of Eid last year.

These multiple delays led to Maidaan exceeding its budget. Made in around Rs 250 crore, the film received positive to mixed reviews from the audiences and the critics, but failed to attract audiences to the theatres. As per the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk, Maidaan just earned Rs 53 crore net in India and turned out to be a box office bomb.

Directed by Amit Sharma, Maidaan had clashed at the box office with the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed action thriller Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. The film, which starred Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Alaya F, Manushi Chhillar, and Sonakshi Sinha, also tanked at the box office. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was made in Rs 350 crore and collected just Rs 66 crore net in India.

Coming back to Maidaan, apart from Ajay Devgn, it starred Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, Nitanshi Goel, Baharul Islam, Chaitanya Sharma, Abhilash Thapliyal, Vijay Maurya, and Rudranil Ghosh in supporting roles. The film, which had its music composed by the Oscar-winner AR Rahman, is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.