Maidaan Director On Box Office Failure of Ajay Devgn Starrer: Can’t Force People To Go To Theatres

Maidaan hit the big screens on April 10 coinciding with the Eid holiday. The Ajay Devgn starrer was released alongside Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and failed to impress the audience at the box office. In its 6-week theatrical run, the movie raked in ₹53.03 crore in India. In a new interview, the director of the sports drama Amit Sharma opens up about the failure of the film.

Maidaan director breaks silence on Maidaan failure 

Amit Sharma, the director of Maidaan has spoken about the failure of the film. The maker shared that despite the underwhelming performance of the movie, it was praised by everyone who saw it on OTT.  The director confessed that he could not fathom why the film failed to work at the box office.

Amit Sharma told DNA, “When the film was released, a lot of people did not watch it. But whoever watched it only praised it. They all appreciated it. I was making rounds of the theatres and I saw the reaction of the public watching it. It was amazing. After it was released on OTT, I was flooded with messages and emails. Many said they should have watched it in theatres but at the end of the day, you can’t force people to go to theatres.”

I couldn’t find the reason for why the big numbers did not happen: Amit Sharma 

In the same conversation, Amit Sharma shared that despite the positive reviews and good word of mouth Maidaan could not register as an impressive business, the reason for which he could not understand. The director shared, “Of course, it comes to your mind as to why numbers are not increasing when the public is appreciating it and the reaction is positive. But I couldn’t find the reason for why the big numbers did not happen."

However, the director argued that he was 'content' with the output of the movie despite its box office report. He said, “If you ask me if I was happy with the way the film was made or not, I’d say I was content with that." He added that people, not just from India, but abroad too have watched the film and appreciated it. He added, “People from European countries praising it and comparing it to Hollywood films was a big validation. They all said they had never seen football shown like this in any film, even in the West."

Based on the Golden era of Indian football, Maidaan is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.