Boney Kapoor spent Rs 210 crore on Maidaan, ordered food from Taj for 800 people; cost of bottled water alone could fund small-budget film

But as the lockdown was announced in March, all shoots were halted and air travel was cancelled. “Nobody knew that the lockdown will be extended for so many months. I kept the unit here until the last flight of the country was announced. This happened with me about four times. Apart from the pandemic, I also suffered because of cyclone that came during that time. My entire stadium set was wiped out. Who do I explain all this to? The budget that we decided for the film was Rs 120 crore, but we eventually ended up spending about Rs 210 crore.”

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Explaining the budget increase, Boney shared: “At any given time when we were shooting the matches, we would have a unit of about 800 people and because of COVID, there were restrictions. During that time, I ordered food from Taj for the entire unit. I had to keep four ambulances and doctors at all times. Due to restrictions, we were not allowed to keep over 150 people on set. We were not allowed to eat together, for the sake of maintaining distance. I had to put up about five tents just for refill.”

A certain amount of the budget was solely dedicated to the bottled water given to the unit on set. Its cost was enough for a producer to make a small budget film. Boney shared, “We had done a deal with a particular brand. They supplied water and that bill was humongous. We had to give distilled water to all so that they feel safe. All these SOPs cost me a lot of money. And, I had to do all this for almost three and a half years.”

For the football sequences, the team had to fly to Bangkok to show crowds, which cost them more money. “We had to show at least 2000 people in the stadium to show them as 40,000 at the editing table.” After all the hardships, when the film was finally released in 2024, it failed to impress the audience. It earned just Rs 68 crore. Due to the loss, Boney had to borrow money to pay to his vendors.

The producer shared: “After Maidaan flopped at the box office, I had to borrow money to pay my vendors. The film failed but it was not their fault. They, in fact, patiently waited for four long years with some even reducing their fees by 10-15%.”

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Blaming the pandemic for his loss, Boney shared it was his destiny and he couldn’t blame any individual for it. Being in the production business, this is not the only time when Boney went through financial stress. Back in the ’90s, he was burdened with a huge debt of about Rs 215 crore, borrowed by his father, Surinder Kapoor. Recalling how he paid off the debt, the producer shared: “I had to dilute one of my assets. And some of my films worked at the box office, like No Entry. Because of the success of No Entry, films that followed… they earned me more money.”

Boney shared that lenders trust him because he is always available and in touch. Maidaan revolved around the life of football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The film was directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma–the man behind films like Badhaai Ho and Tevar.

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