The mega clash is all set to happen and we are just over a week away from it. Two big films clashing isn’t a new phenomenon where, the most recent one that everyone witnessed was that of Salaar and Dunki back in December 2023.
And now, Eid 2024, which is always another bankable time for producers and is usually booked by Salman Khan will see no Salman film coming in but instead two big guns loading.
On one hand, there is Maidaan – a film that has been incredibly delayed and saw several hurdles but is finally set and rolling to hit the theaters. Apart from sporting a unique story of India’s golden period for football, it is mainly a biggie due to the leading man himself, Ajay Devgn. Even more so because Devgn is riding high on the recent success of Shaitaan.
On the other hand, there is a masala action potboiler, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan which sees two superstars Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff paired with each other for the first time, and both in desperate need for a hit for themselves.
And as we keep having updates coming in for each of these films, one notable news has come in, where according to Bollywood Hungama’s report, Maidaan is over 3 hours long.
That’s right. Maidaan clocks runtime of 3 hours 1 minute and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has even granted it a U/A certificate with zero cuts.
The report also read that the only addition asked by CBFC was to insert a disclaimer stating that “the film is a work of fiction inspired by true events available in the public domain, views of the legendary football players, and research of writers with fictional elements”. The disclaimer also mentions that the use of certain dialogues is done purely to dramatize the incidents and that the film is not made to incite any lawlessness.
Will this long runtime affect the film’s performance? We are I’ll have to wait and see.