Maidaan

Anuj Kumar of The Hindu stated "Maidaan needs to be populated as one hopes that it spurs the young generation to take their love for the game from screens to the field and prove the saying that Rahim took Indian football to grave with him wrong."

Bollywood Hungama critic rated 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Maidaan is one of the finest sports-based films of Bollywood that rests on a National Award-worthy performance by Ajay Devgn."

Dhaval Roy of The Times of India gave 4 stars out of 5 and said, "Ajay Devgn shines as Rahim, becoming a larger-than-life figure despite a quiet, understated, dignified demeanour.

Vinamra Mathur from Firstpost said, "With Maidaan, Sharma, and writer Riteish Shah want to take us through the 50s and show what the game meant for India", and rated the film 3 stars out of 5.

India Today’s Sana Farzeen rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and said “Ajay Devgn strikes gold, yet again”

Rishil Jogani from Pinkvilla gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and said, "Maidaan is a work of passion, that can only be envisioned by someone who is really passionate to tell the underdog story of the Indian National Football Team."

Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated the film 2.5/5 and wrote “… makes you want to clap, cheer and shed a proud tear.” and said “Ajay Devgn plays Syed Abdul Rahim with a patent sincerity and only a hint of the slo-mo swagger.