Adipurush Box Office: 7 Reasons why Prabhas, Kriti Sanon starrer failed

Adipurush, a film which is believed to be India’s most expensive film – made with a budget of ₹500 crores, has now tanked at the box office. Despite such high scale promotions, the epic drama has only managed to mint ₹274.5 crores at the box office to date.

This implies that the makers of the film are running at a loss of approximately ₹225.5 crores as on date.

What is the reason behind such a poor performance of the film? Let’s decode it.

1. Poor Storytelling

Adipurush, loosely translated as primordial being, is a film based on the highly regarded Hindu mythological epic Ramayana. However, despite having such a strong plotline, the film performed poorly at the box office.

In the film, actor Kriti Sanon essayed the role of Janaki (a reincarnation of Goddess Sita), actor Prabhas plays Raghav (a reincarnation of Lord Rama) who together conquer the devil, Raavan. The role of devil was played by actor Saif Ali Khan.

The core blame lies in the poor depiction of visual effects combined with the abysmal quality of dialogues. The VFX supervisor of Adipurush is Prasad Sutar is now being questioned for his VFX, which showed monkeys as chimpanzees and Goddess Janaki being carried on a bat instead of a vulture in the film.

2. Poor dialogues

Not only did the poor quality of visual effects incite mockery, but the problematic dialogues of the film were also a cause of concern. Usually, Gods and Goddesses are considered pious in nature, but in the film, the lead characters of the film resorted to speaking ‘Tapori’ or street-style language. In one of the dialogues of the film, Lord Hanuman can be seen telling Lord Indrajeet ‘jalegi tere baap ki’. Adipurush makers have now revised the same. Now, the word ‘baap’ has been replaced with that of ‘Lanka’.

In a clip released online, we can see Lord Hanuman (played by actor Devdatta Nage), telling Indrajeet "Kapda teri Lanka ka, tel teri Lanka ka, aag bhi tere Lanka ki, jalega bhi teri Lanka hi." However, such pathetic quality of dialogues has only invited criticism from all spheres and nothing else.

3. Poor Costume Design

It was clearly evident that the makers of Adipurush did not carry out proper research before making the film. In the film, Lord Raghav is depicted as a muscular man with moustache. Instead, the makers should have opted to show Lord Raghav in a clean-shaven look.

Not only this, but many people have also objected to how Ravana – a devil and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva – was depicted in the film. Ravana’s look reminded netizens of Western fantasies like the Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

4. Writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla's interviews in defense of the dialogues did more harm

When the criticism first began, Shukla had fiercely defended the lines saying that he had not wanted the film to be Sanskritized and strongly wanted the story of Ramayana to connect with youth. Later, as criticism against the film was upscaled, Manoj made a U-turn and said that the film is ‘inspired’ by Ramayana and not based on Ramayana.

This dual stand of Manoj on such a developing issue drew heavy criticism towards the film and its makers of the film.

5. Makers getting flak for marketing gimmicks – like reserving seats for Lord Hanuman at the theatres

On the day of the release of the film, several theatre owners reserved seats for Lord Hanuman during Adipurush shows. Director of Adipurush, Om Raut even shared their photos on Twitter. However, this marketing gimmick drew criticism from various sections of society. Many movie buffs did not like this gesture by the makers of the film. Some of the buffs even commented on Twitter and said that Gods and Goddesses are meant to be safely kept and valued at temples and not stationed in the theatres.

6. Actors of Ramanand Sagar’s TV series ‘Ramayan’ heavily criticised the filmmakers of Adipurush

After watching Adipurush, netizens had been demanding a re-run of Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan as the “National Detox”. Now, it appears that the wishes of social media users have been fulfilled as the show will be aired on TV soon. Actress Dipika Chikhlia confirmed the development.

Dipika shared a video on Instagram and said, “Namashkar! For a long time, I have been thinking about making this video but then I thought I shouldn’t talk about it. I would not like to comment on the film Adipurush or give any tips as I have not even watched the film yet. However, I will talk about the future and every now and then in the years, there is a new Ramayan made either in films or serials. For us Indians, Ramayan is our ‘Dharovar’ and that's why I feel that we should stop making Ramayan anymore."

7. Cinema bodies demand banning Adipurush

About three days ago, All India Cine Workers Association wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an immediate ban on Adipurush. “The movie (Adipurush) running in theatres continues to depict a wrong image of Bhagwan Ram and the entire Ramayan and the producers also want to make money selling discounted tickets across the multiplexes, which will send a wrong message about our learning and faith in the Ramayan. The makers, T-Series, and the producers, writer Manoj Muntasir and director Om Raut have made a mockery of Ramayan by twisting the dialogues, the costumes, and the storyline (characters) which is unacceptable to anybody and everybody,” the letter read.

Even after bringing a revised version of the film at the theatres and plummeting the price of the film to Rs 150/person, the negative reviews of the film continue to tarnish the image of the epic drama globally. Only time will tell what the film’s future will appear to look like.