Maidaan Verdict: Only Ajay Devgn Won This Football Match & Syed Abdul Rahim’s Team Eleven Lost – 5 Major Reasons Why The Sports Drama Failed [No, Don’t Blame BMCM Clash!]
Ajay Devgn performing like a beast in a career defining role turned fatal for Maidaan? Decoding what exactly went wrong.
Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan Has Failed To Win Box Office Despite A Stellar Performance (Photo Credit – YouTube)
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Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan has been running in the theater for 12 days, but the film has yet to be able to perform well at the box office despite being an Eid release. A lot of factors have been attributed to the film underperforming at the box office despite winning critical acclaim.
While there have been debates and discussions around how the film is better than another coach film – Chak De India, the sports drama has also been touted as one of the best performances of Ajay Devgn’s career.
Now, before discussing why Maidaan failed at the box office despite such huge comments, we need to establish a few facts and the major shortcomings of the film that disconnect it from the audiences. Is Maidaan the greatest sports film to come out of Indian Cinema? No! Is Maidaan better than Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De India? Debatable! Has Ajay Devgn delivered a career-defining performance in the film? Yes!
To begin with, Amit Sharma chose a subject that should have been dealt with very responsibly since we are talking about a man who changed the history of Football in India. Or rather, who shaped the history of Football in India? But after three days of watching the film, I do not remember a single frame from the game. And mind you, the sports choreography of the film is being raved about in general!
So why did not Maidaan stay with me despite being such a great epic? The root cause of the film crumbling down in pieces is the emotional disconnect. I watched a man struggling so passionately for a sport he loved, but I did not feel for him for more than a minute! That is how weak and poorly the life of Syed Abdul Rahim has been structured in the film. Now, this might be debatable since some of you might find me cold to not connect to this film, but let me tell you I even have my heart out when I see Rakhi Sawant in a reel, so my emotion meter is generally on point and that sensitive!
Now, coming to why and how Maidaan failed, I figured out five major reasons after discussing the film at length with someone who eats, sleeps, drinks, directs, and creates Cinema.
The Songs & The Background Music
Now, if you haven’t watched the film, you would not believe it if I said that AR Rahman has sinned here.You need to watch it to understand what I will try to explain. The music of Maidaan is so bizarre that it crops up at any moment out of the blue. I set my ears on point when I heard an energetic intro score and thought this would nail the movie and be the base. But it was just a chunk that played and was forgotten about. Moreover, the songs in this film erupt like a volcano, causing harm and destruction to the story. So yes, Rahman might be a marvel, but this film seemed like a lost battle to him!
No Character Arc
Syed Abdul Rahim created one of the best Indian football teams that played internationally and secured a gold medal for the country at a time when we were young and growing as a nation, probably belonging to underdeveloped countries. To explain this further, let us consider 83, Kabir Khan’s film that revisited the 1983 World Cup winning. That film might not have won the box office numbers, but you might remember each and every player who played in that iconic game. You, their lives, their struggles, and their backstories.
However, Maidaan is so flawed that it took me 2 hours in the film to realize how many players, exactly, play Football. Moreover, if you have watched the film and I ask you to name that team Eleven, you’ll blank out. Because the only names you remember will be Pradyut Barman, the goalkeeper, and Chunni Goswami, the captain! I am not sure if I am naming them currently now because even these characters have not been given honest and sincere arcs to flex.
No Antagonist
One might debate that Gajraj Rao has served as a brilliant antagonist in the film. But seriously? A mediocre journalist from Kolkata is an antagonist in a film that talks about one of the most iconic moments in India’s sports history. Doesn’t it sound lame? It probably didn’t to Amit Sharma, who comfortably played around the negative dynamics of the journalist. The least he served was as a troublemaker.
There was this man called Syed Abdul Rahim who was struggling to position India on the map of the world, a herculean task for a nation that was only 15 years old, a nation that was struggling with its GDP, a nation that could not afford good shoes for their National players. In such a film, the antagonist had to be the better resources, better countries as the competition, and the worst circumstances India dealt with to cement their position at number 1. But no, Amit Sharma decided to ditch these bigger issues for a journalist!
Priyamani – What A Waste!
Priyamani, undoubtedly, is a talented actress, but the only issue is that I could not see her talent in the film. In fact, what is the point of making a biopic on a man when you reduce his family to the part that is as bad as a filler? A family that might have fought hard to let their dying member die peacefully and achieve his dreams, a family that had no proper impact or connection with the audiences or with the man himself!
Ajay Devgn’s Performance
Yes, last but not the least, the issue was Ajay Devgn himself. He has outperformed himself to portray Syed Abdul Rahim in poorly structured and poorly edited films. He is so good that even while he starts coughing, you might want to reach out to him. But what an irony to cast an actor who is currently peaking and shining in his career and want him to take the burden of an entire loose script. Ajay Devgn performs so brilliantly in the film that you start asking, why are people not seeing this movie? Why isn’t it earning well? And as soon as you ask these questions, despite Ajay’s veiled attempts, you start witnessing the loopholes in the story.
What a heartbreaking moment that you decide to tell the story of a man who deserves to be known, but you make him lose with a bad structure and research! The only man who wins in Maidaan is Ajay Devgn, who performs like a beast in this larger-than-life character. Sadly, he cannot even celebrate this victory since the character fails!
So yes, Maidaan fails without a doubt, and we just told you why so that we stop blaming Akshay Kumar and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan clash for this performance. This lost battle definitely belongs to Maidaan’s team.
For more such debates and opinions, stay tuned to Koimoi.
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