Ajay Devgn in the trailer. (courtesy: AjayDevgn)
Ajay Devgn's Maidaan, on its first Thursday (day 8), minted ₹0.19 crore at the domestic box office, as per Sacnilk. On day 7, the sports drama minted ₹2 crore. Currently, Maidaan's total collection stands at ₹27.29 crore, the report added. The film, which hit the theatres on April 10, revolves around the story of the coach and manager of the Indian football team—Syed Abdul Rahim—who served from 1950 until he died in 1963. Ajay Devgn plays the titular role in the film. Priyamani, Nitanshi Goel, and Gajraj Rao are also seen in prominent roles. Maidaan has been jointly backed by Zee Studios, Bayview Projects, and Fresh Lime Films.
Ajay Devgn's Maidaan clashed with Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff's Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, released on April 11, at the box office. While the Ali Abbas Zafar directorial is eying to breach ₹50 crore mark, Ajay Devgn's Maidaan is inching closer to ₹ 30 crore mark.
Speaking about the box office clash, Ajay Devgn said, “I would not call it a clash. If you call it a clash, then it means that two films should not be released on the same day. But there are times when you have to do this. Both films are of different genres. We are all like a family, we are friends. We are not looking at it like a clash, we are looking at it like a big weekend and both the films will do well," the actor said at the trailer launch of the film.”
In his review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee gave 2 out of 5 stars to Maidaan. For Ajay Devgn's performance in Maidaan, he wrote, “Played with admirable restraint by Ajay Devgn, the character of Rahim towers over everything and everyone else in the film. That does more harm than good to Maidaan. The battles the hero fights to put together a team that cuts across regions, languages and cultures overshadow the excitement generated by the tough games his boys play against formidable Olympic and Asian Games opponents.”