Amit Sharma

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 13 : 'Maidaan' director Amit Sharma is celebrating his birthday today. On this special occasion, actor Ajay Devgn penned a special post for him.Taking to Instagram stories, Ajay shared a picture of himself and Amit from the sets.The image captured Ajay Devgn dressed in a white shirt teamed with beige pants and a printed tie. He can seen looking at Amit, while the director posing for the camera. Along with the post, he wrote, "Happy Birthday @iamitrsharma. Wishing you continued success and the vision to keep achieving your goals."Ajay-starrer is running in theatres.The film raked in Rs 7.25 cr at the box office on the opening day, as per trade analyst Taran Adarsh."Inspite of the big holiday [#Eid], #Maidaan opens to shockingly low numbers... Biz at urban centres in particular should've multiplied post-noon onwards, but, despite merits and appreciation, the Day 1 biz is dismal, way below the mark... Wed previews + Thu Rs 7.25 cr. #India biz. #Boxoffice #Maidaan enjoys glorious word of mouth, but that needs to convert into footfalls, especially over the weekend... In fact, a miraculous turnaround on Sat - Sun is a must... Let's see how its biz pans out in the next couple of days," he wrote on X.Directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma, 'Maidaan' is a poignant portrayal of Syed Abdul Rahim's unwavering dedication to football, which brought tremendous pride to India. Ajay Devgn essays the role of Rahim, supported by a talented ensemble cast including Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, and Rudranil Ghosh.The film also stars Priyamani, Gajraj Rao, and Bengali actor Rudranil Ghosh in pivotal roles and also features Priyamani, Gajraj Rao and Bengali actor Rudranil Ghosh in pivotal roles.

Superstar Ajay Devgn has always been one of the biggest crowd pullers of Bollywood. But after the blockbuster success of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020), his popularity has gone on another level and all his upcoming films are being keenly awaited. One of his many upcoming films that have generated tremendous hype is Maidaan. Directed by Badhaai Ho (2018) director Amit Sharma, it tells the story of the golden era of Indian football in the 50s when the national team won Gold at the Asian Games in 1951 and 1962, and also reached the semi-finals of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Ajay plays the role of coach, Syed Abdul Rahim, in this film, which is mounted on a huge scale.The film has not been in the news for some time but Bollywood Hungama has now found out that its shoot will resume this week in Mumbai. A source told us, Its a brief 3-day schedule. The shoot will kick off on August 20 and go on till August 22. After this shoot, the makers intend to complete the remaining portions after the monsoon. Then, the shoot will finally wrap up. The source continued, It goes without saying that all Covid-safety protocols will be followed during the shoot. The prep for this brief schedule is in full swing.Interestingly, August 19 will mark two years since the day Maidaan went on floors. The sports film faced a lot of delays and obstacles, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. What has been heart-breaking for producer Boney Kapoor is that the team had to build a huge makeshift stadium at Madh Island three times. The first time it was dismantled was in May 2020 owing to the first lockdown. The set was then rebuilt in November 2020. The shoot resumed in February 2021 and four important football matches were shot here. Then the shoot got halted again due to the second lockdown in April 2021.In May 2021, due to Cyclone Tauktae, a major part of the set got destroyed. Boney Kapoor had then revealed about the extent of the loss, "Last year, when we dismantled, materials could be reused. But after destruction in a cyclone, hardly anything is salvageable. I had eight makeup rooms, 26 bathrooms, different sets, but most of it is gone." He also added, "What I am going through is horrible. I dont want to be reminded of it. If I think about the pressure or feelings of loss, I will start crying. If I think about the budget overshooting and expenses piling up, I might go into depression."Earlier in the year, Maidaan was also in the news as its theatrical release was going to clash with S S Rajamoulis RRR. Both the films were scheduled to release on October 15 and both star Ajay Devgn, though Ajay has a brief role in RRR. A trade source said, Since the shoot of Maidaan is still pending and also owing to the Covid-19 situation, it is unlikely that it will be released on October 15. However, RRRs makers intend to bring their grand, period drama on the said date.

Badhaai Ho, you have tested Negative, I pun-joked with filmmaker Amit Sharma whose new ambitious venture Maidaan promises to do for football what Lagaan did for cricket and Chak De for hockey.Amit who has now fully recovered from Covid laughs nervously. The idea is to do my best. We have invited football players from the all across the world to come and play in our matches for Maidaan: Japan, South Korea, France, and Thailand there is some problem getting Australian players to come to India because the country is under lockdown.A series of matches will now be shot for Maidaan showing India playing football with different countries.Informs Amit, In fact the players from Thailand are already here .They have been waiting for me to recover from Covid. We start shooting them from April 4. We then go on to shoot matches with the other countries with a break between every match. It is a tough schedule. We were supposed to start shooting from March 16. But then who we would have thought I would be felled with Covid like this?Amit says the football matches will be shot on an international scale. There will be no compromise on quality. We are trying to make a film that we hope India will be proud of. When I directed Badhaai Ho I never set out to make something that would have such an impact on the audience. I am so glad all the actors in Badhaai Ho specially Neenaji (Gupta) benefited from it.

Badhaai Ho director Amit Sharma has fought his way out of Covid Positive. Speaking to me on the day his quarantine ended Amit said, It happened in spite of all precautions. I had moved out of my home into a hotel for the last three months to work on my film Maidaan. The plan was to move back home, when I was detected Covid Positive.Luckily Amits family was out of station. It is fortunate that my wife and son are out of town. They left for my wifes parents home in Delhi for the next two months. So I was in quarantine in my home without the fear of infecting my wife or son. I missed my family. But I was relieved that they were not home with me. It would have been very difficult to keep my son away from me. Or for that matter, if I had not moved out my home for three months my wife and child would also have been susceptible to the virus. Though it was tough on me to manage with Covid on my own, I think it was plain good fortune that my family was spared.Amit counsels everyone to exercise the optimum caution. There should be no slackening of guidelines. We are back to shooting. By doing so we are vulnerable to infection. But it cant be helped. Work has to go on. Thousands of livelihoods depend on it. At the same time we should be very careful. Covid19 is not going away for a while.

Ajay Devgn starrer Maidaan will feature him as a football coach for the first time in his career and the actors film has been in the news since its announcement. While the shooting schedules had to be moved around due to the unforeseen pandemic, the producer Boney Kapoor has managed to move things around effortlessly. Director Amit Sharma had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and had home quarantined himself while following the necessary protocols.As per the latest reports, Amit Sharma has tested negative for Coronavirus and will soon resume the shoot. The director, as per the sources, has been feeling a lot better and even though his diagnosis had left everyone tensed considering the surge, Amit Sharma is eager to resume work. He has been feeling great now and is relieved that he can finally continue to direct the film. For the unversed, Maidaan is based on the legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim.Starring Priyamani and Gajraj Rao among the others, Maidaan is slated to release on October 15.

The Dussehra maha-yuddh between S S Rajamoulis RRR and Boney Kapoor-Amit Sharmas Maidaan is likely to be averted. And the one playing peacemaker and mediator is Ajay Devgn.Says a source in the know, Since Ajay Devgn happens to be the common factor in both the films he is playing peacemaker between Boney and Rajamouli. Ajay is trying to arrange a meeting between the two filmmakers.There is one major hurdle to Ajays peace plans. Neither Rajamouli nor Boney is willing to withdraw from the race.Says the source, While Boney feels he has the right of way since he announced his release date six months ago, Rajamouli feels his film and RRR are two completely different films, hence no competition for one another. Ajay is completely different in RRR and Maidaan.It remains to be seen who blinks first, Boney or Rajamouli.

Director Amit Sharma has had a busy year. After gathering accolades for his viral advertisement for Facebook, the talented filmmaker is set to resume the shooting of his upcoming directorial Maidaan. Known for being a creative mastermind in both film and ad world, Amit has delivered stories that resonate with the audience across the country. Be it the famous Google ad, National award-winning Badhaai Ho or his recent campaign for Facebook, the ace storyteller adds a distinct style and flavour to his work which wins hearts in all age groups.Sharma's magnum opus starring Ajay Devgan in the lead got pushed due to Covid-19 but things seem to be getting better now. "The pandemic pushed us back on our schedule, and just like the rest of the industry we too were affected by it. We were about to go on floors but had to cancel our shoot, but the preparations are on again. Ajay sir is ready and the players are back at practice. We will be resuming very soon," says Amit.Further talking about the preperations, he says, "We are left primarily with our sports sequences, for which we were building a set in Mumbai, but it was affected due to the monsoons as most of it was open air, so we've had to start from scratch, but we intend to shoot in Mumbai itself."He goes on to add, "We are making sure all safety and precautionary measures are in place for all the crew members. The requirements for the crew is the same has it was before the pandemic. We are ensuring that no one loses their jobs."The storyteller is known for his deep range of understanding what the audience likes. The prime testimonial to that is his latest advertisement for Facebook's More Together campaign. The ad - produced by Amit's production house Chrome Pictures, threw light on how social media can be used for betterment of lives during pandemic. It went viral within a few minutes of its release.Talking about how he worked on the idea, which was presented by the creative team from Taproot Dentsu and made it so effective, Amit says, "When you see things happening around you, you relate to it. I have seen people and been a part of their journey in these turbulent times, and this has taught me a lot. I simply put my experience to play here, and I feel thats what made the impact."