Trade experts explain why Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan fell flat despite terrific word of mouth; feel Eid release was a strategic misfire: “Roz roz biryani bhi acchi nahin lagti”

The long-in-the-making Maidaan, starring Ajay Devgn, finally released on April 10. It was expected that the film is not a mass entertainer and hence, would not fire at the box office. Yet, no one was ready for the fact that it'll open at Rs. 5 crores on the day of Eid. The collections dropped to Rs. 2.80 crores the next day. Thankfully, it rose to Rs. 5.65 crores on Saturday. Its weekend collections will be around Rs. 22 crores. That's way too low for a film which is very expensive.

Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, sighed as the other Eid release, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan also struggled, “The collections are hugely disappointing. It is one of the lowest Eid collections which the Indian box office has experienced so far. Eid is one of the biggest holidays of the year. There should have been some solace had the films opened and then crashed. But the films just did not open, which was a huge cause for alarm.”

We asked trade experts what went wrong with the film. Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “Producer Boney Kapoor is one of the shrewdest brains that we have today. I am saying this in a very good way. Maidaan was also backed by Zee Studios which has experienced people in the team. What I failed to understand was the timing of the release of Maidaan. It’s not an Eid film. A film like this needs to be nurtured and grow over a period of time. On Eid, viewers are not going to watch a serious drama.”

Raj Bansal, the owner of Entertainment Paradise in Jaipur opined, “The trailer didn’t work. Also, the film was under-publicized. These factors affected the film. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’s promotion overshadowed it. Also, people were not sure ki Maidaan exactly kab aa rahi hai.”

Taran Adarsh agreed, “Clashing with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan was also not justified. Audience ka dhyaan toh ussi film pe tha as it was a full-on mass film. On face value, it was more appealing than Maidaan.”

Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, agreed, “Instead of releasing together, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan should have come one week apart.” Trade analyst Atul Mohan, in agreement, stated, “They should have come one week apart. Clash karne mein dono ka nuksaan ho gaya.”

Taran Adarsh also said, “Maidaan got postponed too many times.” Atul Mohan explained, “People knew that Maidaan was in the making for 5 years. When a film gets pushed again and again, it might give a feeling that the product is stale. If it was made in time, it might have had a better result as the mood of the people was different.”

Girish Johar remarked, “A R Rahman could not deliver a hit music. A film like this needed a great soundtrack. Also, the length of a film of this genre is very critical. The director could not bind the audience. Also, the genre is dry and historical. So, the makers should have ensured that they pack in all the ingredients to attract the audience. There was no relief element. The focus was only on the main character. He should have built the support characters for wholesome entertainment.”

2 films of Ajay Devgn in 2 months, run time, serious tone

Was there also an overexposure of Ajay Devgn? Taran Adarsh brought up this factor, “His film Shaitaan was released a month ago and is still fresh in the minds of moviegoers. Overdose for any actor is not good. We usually criticize Akshay Kumar for it. Ajay should have also taken a call and (not let Shaitaan and Maidaan release so close to each other). Nevertheless, I would give the benefit of the doubt to Ajay here as the producers also knew about Shaitaan running in cinemas. But fact is, roz roz biryani bhi acchi nahin lagti!”

As for the runtime of 181 minutes, Atul Mohan said, “I won’t blame the length. One might argue that even Animal was so long. But at least, it was gripping. In the case of Maidaan, it gets on a high only in the last 30 minutes.”

The serious tone of Maidaan probably wasn’t appealing to the audience on a festival. Taran Adarsh explained this with an example, “There was a film called Kyon Ki (2005), starring Salman Khan. It came during Diwali along with Garam Masala and Shaadi No 1. Garam Masala took an instant opening. But Kyon Ki did not work as people did not want to watch a serious film on a festival. On Eid, people are in a mood to celebrate, not to watch a film that shows a lot of hardships and struggles. It’s a biopic and I completely respect that. I loved the film. But since it’s not an Eid film, the collections are not there. It did pick up but the 4-day collections are quite low.”

Kiritbhai T Vaghasia said, “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’s online reviews were negative. But that’s what the audience wants to see, at least in our cinema hall. Maidaan’s reviews, meanwhile, are very positive but the audience doesn’t seem interested.”

He also revealed, “On Sunday, Maidaan’s 2 shows were cancelled. The 6 pm show had around 20 people. The 3 pm slot is a prime one. Yet, only around 30 people turned up. On the other hand, 60 people bought tickets of Crew’s afternoon show!” He continued, “People are complaining that Maidaan is a slow movie. Also, there’s hardly any craze for football in Surat. Towards the end, however, people feel elated since India wins in the film.”

He also said, “On Thursday, I was playing 8 shows of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and 7 shows of Maidaan. After the negative response came in, I decided to get back Crew, Madgaon Express and even Yodha from Friday. Now, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan has 5 shows while Maidaan is playing with 4 shows a day.”

The same has happened in cinemas across the country. In Mumbai, single-screen cinema halls like Citylight, Movietime Star City and Plaza have re-released Swatantrya Veer Savarkar. Crew and Madgaon Express are also back. Movietime Suburbia is playing two shows of Madgaon Express. Shockingly, PVR Le Reve has scheduled three shows of Crew while Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan have just one show each!

Lifetime predictions

When asked about the lifetime collections, Atul Mohan predicted, “Maidaan will do Rs. 50 crores at the most. From Monday, the collections of both films will drop. The Ram Navami holiday won’t be much of a help.”

Raj Bansal, meanwhile, said, “Monday collections should be 50% of Sunday earnings. Only then, the films will be in the race.” Taran Adarsh observed, “The advantage of both films is that there’s no significant release to grab your screens. Monday is a very crucial day. That will give an indicator of how things will materialize in the coming days.”

Raj Bansal signed off by predicting, “Those who saw Maidaan before release were raving about it. But a film can work only if the moviegoers come into the theatre. The first two days were dismal and the collections rose from the third day, as word of mouth came into play. Hence, I won’t be surprised if Maidaan takes over Bade Miyan Chote Miyan in its lifetime business. Monday will be a deciding factor.”

Also Read: From Maidaan to Tanhaji: 5 times Ajay Devgn played real-life characters

 

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