‘Adipurush’ Earns $41 mn worldwide in first weekend

The latest Hindi movie Adipurush has grossed over $40 million in the first weekend of its release, as per the producers of the film. Directed by Om Raut (of OMG Oh My God! fame), the film features Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles. It is heavily inspired by the Hindu mythological epic Ramayan. The film was made on an estimated budget of $63 million. Director Raut, Rajesh Nair and Prasad Sutar of Retrophiles, Pramod, and Vamsi of UV Creations, and Bhushan Kumar of Tseries, have co-produced the film.

The Telugu version of Adipurush alone earned $1.64 million over the first weekend in the US markers alone. The Hindi film scored $877,628 in the US markets over the weekend. It ranked at the tenth slot in the Comscore
SCOR
list of top grossing films over the weekend ending June 18. Comscore also listed Adipurush on the fifth rank on the worldwide list for top-grossing films this weekend with a total score of $33.1 million nett collections worldwide. The film released in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam languages.

The statement issued by producers T Series said: “Adipurush continues to captivate audiences across generations, crossing an astounding $41.5 million on the opening weekend at the box office! Jai Shri Ram (Hail Lord Ram).”

Adipurush the third film that features Prabhas and has scored more than $10 milion on day one. Prior to Adipurush, Bahubali, Bahubali 2 and Saaho were in the list. He plays the role of Raghav aka Ram from Ramayan while Sanon plays Janaki aka Sita. Khan essays the role of Ravana, and is named Lankesh in the film.

Speaking about the response to Adipurush at the Indian ticket windows, executive director of PVR-INOX Sanjeev Kumar Bijli says, “We are delighted with the massive response received for Adipurush over its first weekend with more than 18.5 lakh tickets sold at PVR INOX cinemas across the country, which is extremely heartening to see. We are certain that it would continue to set newer benchmarks in the weeks to come. Our heartiest congratulations to the director, producers and the entire team for making a film that has resonated so well with the Indian audiences.”

Advance bookings

Adipurush was heavily publicised film and it garnered much support across the globe before the release. In India, it collected $600,000 in India in the advance bookings while it scored $16000 in the Australian & New Zealand markets.

Giving in to controversies

For a film that claims to champion culture and traditions of Hinduism, the mmakers have been extremely unsure of their craft anmd content right from the beginning. When the first trailer of Adipurush was widely slammed for bad graphics, the producers announced they’d go back to the table and rework on the film. Khan’s look as Lankesh was also changed in the process.

After the film’s release, several factions have objected to dialogues, looks and other issues in Adipurush. Major portions of Nepal refused to release the film as it called Goddess Sita ‘India’s daughter’.

Three political parties in India have also objected to the way Lord Hanuman has been portrayed in the film. Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) have all registered their opposition to the film. On Sunday, the film’s writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla and producers of Adipurush announced that their team will rework on the dialouges of the film and re-release the new version within a week.