WILL ADIPURUSH EMERGE AS A BLOCKBUSTER?
The much-awaited film Adipurush is all set to release in cinemas tomorrow, Friday, June 16, and the excitement is palpable. It is based on Ramayana and stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Sita, Saif Ali Khan as Raavan and Devdatta Nage as Lord Hanuman. It is directed by Om Raut of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior fame.
Adipurush was initially scheduled to be released on January 12, 2023. The teaser was launched with fanfare in October 2022 at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram. However, the teaser was widely panned for its poor VFX. The criticism was such that the makers decided to rework on the CGI. Hence, they pushed the film by nearly 5 months. The trailer was out in May and this time, the response was positive. In fact, the way the teaser was received, it seemed like Adipurush would face a very tough time. The trailer, however, changed the perception overnight. The songs of the film also got a very positive response.
The advance booking of the film opened on Sunday. The response to it has been mixed. In B and C centres and the Hindi heartland, the ticket sales have been incredible and one of the best in recent times. In cities like Mumbai, Delhi and even centres of Gujarat, the advance booking has been underwhelming. There have also been allegations that the makers themselves have booked tickets in certain shows in Mumbai to boost the perception that Adipurush is in tremendous demand throughout the country. However, this has added to the negativity. Moreover, actors like Ram Charan, Ranbir Kapoor and Ananya Birla have sponsored 10,000 tickets each for the underprivileged section. This also led to criticism as this would mean shows are not getting sold out organically.
Looking at the ticket sales, Adipurush will take a strong start, in the range of Rs. 25-30 crores. The opening can also be higher if the word of mouth is positive. If reports are encouraging, it can have a weekend of Rs. 100 crores after which it will have a huge and successful run in cinemas. If reports are bad, the film can suffer. But it won’t crash as due to the religious factor, a section of the audience is surely going to watch the film in cinemas, regardless of word of mouth.
The aforementioned figures are only for the Hindi version. Adipurush also releases in Telugu version wherein it is expected to take a record opening as Prabhas is a huge star in the local market. If it manages to score in the Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam versions as well, the first-day collections of Adipurush in all languages can be between Rs. 80 and 100 crores.
The other release of the week is The Flash. It has released today and has generated excitement among DC fans. Its advance in multiplexes in major cities is very good. It is expected to open around Rs. 4 crores. It will have a four-day weekend and can earn Rs. 20 crores by Sunday if all goes well. What goes against the film is limited appeal outside cities and strong competition in the form of Adipurush.