Adipurush box office report: Prabhas in a still from the film
Controversial new release Adipurush continues to clock box office numbers if not plaudits. Poor reviews notwithstanding, the retelling of the Ramayana has earned a net collection of Rs 105 crore in its first weekend in theatres, reports Box Office India. Adipurush, directed by Om Raut, is a VFX-heavy film starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Sunny Singh and Saif Ali Khan as Raghav, Janaki, Shesh and Lankesh (or Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Ravan). Adipurush released last Friday to critical reviews, much of it focused on the dialogues – seen as lacking in elegance and gravitas, especially those spoken by Devdatta Nage as Bajrang (Hanuman).
This may have influenced ticket sales in the Hindi belt where collections have been lower than expected, according to Box Office India. Cyclone Biparjoy also kept audiences home and out of theatres in Gujarat and Rajasthan; nevertheless, reports Box Office India, Sunday ought to have shown growth in collections compared to Friday and Saturday which it didn't. Days 1, 2 and 3 clocked about Rs 35 crore net at the box office.
T-Series, which produced Adipurush, reported gross earnings of Rs 340 crores at the end of Day 3.
Meantime, Adipurush dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir announced over the weekend that some of the dialogues will be revised after backlash. "For me there is nothing greater than your feelings. I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not lessen your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that we will revise some of the dialogues which are hurting you and they will be added to the film this week," he wrote in Hindi in a long tweet:
Reviews for Adipurush have been uniformly unflattering. Film critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote for NDTV: "Adipurush is part Planet of the Apes, part King Kong, and part all the Hollywood superhero movies that the director and his ilk have been weaned on. It presents Lord Rama (Prabhas) as a comic book hero with a bow and a quiver that never runs out of arrows, Sita (Kriti Sanon) as a whimpering damsel in distress, Ravana as a cross between Thanos and Voldemort, and Bajrang/Hanuman (Devdatta Nage) as a mighty acrobat barely aware of his incredible powers until somebody reminds him that he can leap across a sea." He did single out Saif Ali Khan's performance for praise of sorts and also wrote that Prabhas "has strong screen presence but it appears to be wasted on an undeserving film."