Cyclone Tauktae destroys sets of Ajay Devgn’s sports film Maidaan

By: Mohnish Singh

On Monday, Mumbai received incessant rains along with gusts of winds as cyclone Tauktae hit the city with all its fury. Several areas of the city reported incidents of damage to vehicles, houses and properties.

The Hindi film industry also suffered losses due to the cyclone. According to reports, the sets of Ajay Devgn’s much-awaited film Maidaan were damaged due to the cyclone, incurring heavy losses to the makers.

Confirming the same, producer Boney Kapoor told a publication, “We had built an entire footfall stadium to shoot 8 matches in the final schedule. While we are done with 4 matches, the shoot was halted due to lockdown and now, the cyclone has destroyed our set. It's unfortunate, but everyone is suffering in some way or another. Thankfully, there is no injury to human life.” The team will rebuild the sets once the state government eases off lockdown restrictions.

For the uninitiated, Maidaan is based on the golden era of Indian football (1952–62). It features superstar Ajay Devgn as football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The makers had constructed a huge football stadium in Madh Island in early 2020 to shoot a couple of international matches. However, they had to demolish the same in May last year due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The team reconstructed the stadium towards the end of 2020. But as ill-luck would have it, this time around cyclone Tauktae destroyed the sets.

Also starring Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, and Rudranil Ghosh, Maidaan is being directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma. Boney Kapoor is co-producing it in association with ZEE Studios.

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