Two big films with vastly different flavours are eyeing the same festival release. Vashu Bhagnani’s fictional Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (BMCM) carries forward the title of a 1998 commercial entertainer; Boney Kapoor and Zee Studio’s Maidaan is the sobering standalone biopic of a football coach from the 1950s. BMCM has lead actors from two different generations and a villain (Prithviraj) much loved as a hero in Malayalam; Maidaan leans heavily on Ajay Devgn with Priyamani from the South as his wife. BMCM has marketed itself with a flamboyance befitting its dance-n-action genre — 50-plus journos taken to Jordan, Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff making splashy entries in action-hero style for promotions in Lucknow, both stars dancing at the opening ceremony of the IPL and social media reels of fun gags between bade and chote. Maidaan has been like its hero Ajay Devgn, the man who speaks more before the movie camera than off it.
The Id platter thus has fun and action on one side, intensity and authenticity on the other.
BMCM: shot as planned from January 2023 to January 2024, and ready for release as promised, Akshay and Tiger pool their individual appeal with the additional draw of director Ali Abbas Zafar. Ali’s Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) was perhaps the best instalment in that YRF franchise. But in the intervening seven years, Ali has had a lukewarm Bharat (2019) on the big screen and a tepid Bloody Daddy (2023) on OTT. Akshay and Tiger have also had a few setbacks. It makes BMCM a crucial release for everyone, especially since the Rs 350 crore budget is Akshay’s and Tiger’s most expensive film to date.
In contrast, nothing went as scheduled for Maidaan and its cost shot up. In characteristic Boney Kapoor style, elaborate sets to film football matches were put up and, after the pandemic halted shooting for over a year, cyclonic rains ruined the costly mini studio with its vast sports ground and makeup, monitor and restrooms. Meanwhile, like Ali, director Amit Ravindernath Sharma, best known for a competent Badhaai Ho, has so far managed only one episode of Lust Stories 2 on OTT and is still to repeat his big-screen feat of 2018. However, on the plus side is Ajay’s steady audience that admires his craft. His supernatural horror film Shaitaan too saw brisk ticket sales.
Therefore, both BMCM and Maidaan have their share of attractive features. But, unlike in the past, when, say, claws were out between Ajay’s Son Of Sardaar and YRF’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and even reached the courts, there’s a lack of hostility between the two films releasing this Wednesday. Three years ago, when Maidaan and Raja- mouli’s RRR were poised to clash on Dussehra 2021 (that’s how long the film has been itching to reach the theatres), an aggrieved Boney had publicly protested. There was already history between him and Rajamouli that dated back to when Sridevi’s terms had not suited the filmmaker who had wanted her for his 2015 Bahubali. Ultimately, neither RRR nor Maidaan made it to the theatres that Dussehra.
However, after heart- stopping setbacks, the serendipitous arrival of a football coach, Syed Abdul Rahim, on Id couldn’t have been better timed. Although not as blatant as the minority victimisation of Kabir Khan in Chak De! India, the Hyderabadi coach standing up to the bullying football dadas of Bengal will strike a chord on a festival like Id.
But this time, a certain level of cordiality has been maintained in the public space by Team Maidaan and Team BMCM. Far from acrimony, there’s actually bonhomie. On Ajay’s birthday on April 2, Akshay tweeted, “My wish for you always, Kar har Maidaan fateh.” Devgn replied, “Thanks Bade Miyan.”
Unnoticed in the hype around them is that for the first time, two films colliding on the same festive day share the same PR outfit — Parag Desai oversees the publicity of both.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author
