Adipurush is currently the talk of the town because of its larger-than-life feel and stellar cast.
The release of its recent trailer and several songs have only added to people’s excitement. Om Raut’s second Bollywood film, Adipurush, stars Baahubali actor Prabhas and Mimi actress Kriti Sanon in the lead roles. The film is expected to keep box office counters ringing, with its release on June 16.
3 things you need to know
- Adipurush has reportedly been made on a budget of ₹500 crore.
- The film is a 21st century retelling of the epic Ramayana.
- The film will release pan-India in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam.
Will Adipurush make (and break) records at the box office?
Given the budget and grandeur of Adipurush, it is expected that the film will do immensely well at the box office. According to Ramesh Bala, “Adipurush’s opening day collection will probably range from ₹40-₹50 crore net in India. Talking about the film’s opening weekend collection, it is expected that the film will cross ₹100 crore mark.” However, he adds that since Adipurush “is kind of an animated film”, analysts are a little skeptical about its weekend collection. If it was a live-action film, number predictions would have been different,” says Bala to Republic.
On the other hand, Sumit Kadel predicts that, “Om Raut’s Adipurush will collect around ₹25-₹85 crore alone in the Hindi belt, whereas, it will collect around ₹50-60 crores in the southern states.” The analyst also predicted that the film could have the biggest opener for a “Bollywood” film, surpassing the opening day collection of Pathaan.
About the film’s opening weekend collection, Kadel said it “depends on the word of mouth from the first day. The film has the potential of earning at least ₹200-₹300 crore in the first weekend across all languages.” Sumit Kadel even claimed that if the film is well-made, it will surpass the earnings of films like RRR and KGF, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film.
“If it’s (Adipurush) well made, it can make over ₹1400 crore business”, said Kadel to Republic. Thus it’s clear that Adipurush holds great potential for making, as well as breaking, previous box office records.
How will the film do in the northern and southern states?
Apart from Adipurush’s epic nature and storyline, another element that will draw the audience to theaters is Prabhas’ stardom. Sumit Kadel believes that the film will see major earnings in Telugu-speaking states – Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, on day one.
He said, “Whenever a big star film releases in the south, it draws major numbers on day one, however, it does see a drop on day two and three, comparatively.” He added, “The film might collect ₹60 crores on day one of its release, whereas, on the day two and three, the Prabhas starrer might see a collection of ₹25-₹30 crore, making it a total of ₹80-₹100 crores on the opening weekend alone, in the Telugu speaking states.”
Ramesh Bala says there’s not much buzz in Tamil Nadu and Kerala regarding the Om Raut directorial and only “somewhat” of a buzz in Karnataka. According to his analysis, “North and the Telugu-speaking states will contribute 90% of the earning of the film, whereas, the other 10% will come from states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.”
Analyst Sumit Kadel opines that even if Adipurush turns out to be a flop, it will still do business of at least ₹400 crore in the Hindi belt. Thus Adipurush is expected to do reasonably well in the north as well as in the south.
The crowd-puller elements in Adipurush
Adipurush is a retelling of Ramayana, an Indian epic that has been shown several times on Indian television and particularly popularised by Ramanand Sagar’s 1987 production. Despite this, trade analysts believe that people will want to watch this family-film, including non-movie goers, because of their sentimental reasons and religious beliefs.
While these are the predictions, it remains to be seen how the film will fare at the box office. Adipurush stars Prabhas as Raghava, Kriti Sanon as Janak and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh. It also stars Devdatta Nage in the role of Hanuman and Sunny Singh as Laxman. The Om Raut directorial is all set to hit the screens on June 16.