Maidaan vs Shaitaan Box Office: Ajay Devgn's films released a month apart meet with completely opposite fates

Two of Ajay Devgn's films, released a month apart in 2024, Maidaan and Shaitaan, met with completely opposite theatrical receptions. Here's analysing the contrast in their box office performance.

By Rishil Jogani

Published on Apr 25, 2024 | 06:55 PM IST | 241.7K

Maidaan and Shaitaan end with a box office difference of Rs 100 crores in India (Credit: Bayview Entertainment, Devgn Films)

Ajay Devgn is having a busy 2024. Two of his films have released in theatres in the first four months and 3-4 more films are set to release by year end. Shaitaan took the box office by surprise as it netted around Rs 146-147 crores in India and approximately Rs 215 crores worldwide. Less than a month later, Maidaan again took the box office by surprise, this time for all the wrong reasons as it opened on a disastrous note, and is projected to close its business in the vicinity of Rs 43-48 crores in India and Rs 65 crores worldwide.

Maidaan And Shaitaan See Diametrically Opposite Box Office Results

The box office performance of both Ajay Devgn films are very contrasting. Why this is surprising is because the momentum that the actor got with Shaitaan had to ensure better initials for Maidaan, which didn't happen to be. While Shaitaan was largely profitable for the producers, Maidaan has proven to be a massive loss-making venture which will be extremely difficult to come out of, unless a compromise is made on the remuneration front.

Maidaan Had Odds And Circumstances Favouring It While Shaitaan Didn't

Shaitaan was made on a modest budget, is an official adaptation of the Gujarati film 'Vash' and was directed by a director who gave a dud in the form of Ganapath late last year. Maidaan was a way more expensive film, had an original screenplay and was directed by a director who last delivered a super-hit in Badhaai Ho. In short, the odds and circumstances were favouring the latter but it is the former that ended up doing much better. The final results are a separate thing but when a film with a price tag of over Rs 200 crores and featuring a bankable star fails to even take an opening, there is introspection required.

What Worked For Shaitaan That Didn't Work For Maidaan?

Shaitaan made its first pop with an excellently received trailer. The film released, not too long after the trailer released. The well-received promo led to an urgency to watch the movie in theatres and once a film secures its initial audience, it inadvertently also ends up doing respectable business, unless there is total rejection on the content front.

Watch the Shaitaan Trailer

Maidaan's trailer, while impressive, was long and the impact got diluted till the second trailer released. The fact that Maidaan was a film in the making for over 4 years, also subconsciously had an impact. Audiences are clearly preferring content that is shot post-pandemic. Films shot or greenlit before the pandemic are seen with less enthusiasm and this is precisely what happened with Maidaan. Lastly, the gap between Shaitaan and Maidaan's release was just around a month and that is definitely not a healthy gap, especially when there is no additional incentive in the form of another big star sharing screen-space.

Watch the Maidaan Trailer

Shaitaan's Profitability Is Higher Than Maidaan's Incurred Loss

Shaitaan's profit to the producers was in the vicinity of Rs 150 crores excluding Ajay Devgn's remuneration. Based on the profit sharing deal and considering that he was a co-producer on the project, it is likely that he got a sweet paycheck of over Rs 100 crores. Maidaan on the other hand, will incur a loss of around or over Rs 80 crores including Ajay Devgn's fee. It is likely that compromises will be made by the actor so that the loss to the producers is not as high as it is currently. Ajay has been a producer's delight and one can expect him to step up when his producers are in dire need of his cooperation. The actor has a lot of profitable releases to look forward to and this adjustment is not too big in the larger scheme of things.

Ajay Devgn's Future Slate Of Releases

Ajay Devgn's next release is likely to be Auron Mein Kaha Dum Tha. That will be followed by arguably the biggest Hindi release of the year, Singham Again. The year will end with Raid 2 for him. He is set to begin shooting for De De Pyaar De 2, Son Of Sardar 2 and a number of other films from June. Drishyam 2 and Shaitaan are obviously getting sequels too. In other words, our Singham is booked and busy.

Which upcoming release of Ajay Devgn are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.

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