Adipurush: A Historic Box Office Opening Awaits Prabhas's Epic Mythological Film

     After a long wait and a lastminute delay, the much-awaited mythological epic film Adipurush finally hit theatres across the world on Friday. Shows in certain Telugu-speaking territories began as early as 2 am, with fans crowding theatres and lighting firecrackers in celebration of what is being seen as star Prabhas’ grand return to form.

     Initial reactions to the movie have been mixed, but Adipurush is still expected to have a historic opening day at the box office. Industry tracker Sacnilk is projecting a Rs 85 crore domestic debut, which includes a Rs 25 crore estimated collection from the Hindi-speaking belt and another Rs 60 crore from the Telugu states. Trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan predicted a global gross opening between Rs 130 crore and Rs 150 crore.

     As majestic as that sounds, it is still around Rs 100 crore short of the Rs 257 crore opening day gross that SS Rajamouli’s RRR delivered in 2022. Even Prabhas’ own Baahubali 2 made more than Rs 200 crore worldwide on its opening day. In fact, Baahubali 2 made more in the Hindi-speaking belt also. The film earned Rs 41 crore on its first day of release. This year’s Pathaan set a new record for Hindi openings, earning Rs 55 crore on its first day.

     Adipurush cost more than Baahubali 2 and RRR – the budget is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore, which means that it is an even more expensive venture than Prabhas’ last two flops, Radhe Shyam and Saaho. The budget probably ballooned even further after initial negative response to the film’s teaser forced T-Series to delay its release in order to finetune its visual effects.

     Early reports coming out of screenings suggest that the VFX are still far from perfect. Adipurush was supposed to have a grand world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this week, but it was cancelled without explanation.

     The movie is being released in over 6000 screens in India, and also stars Kriti Sanon, Sunny Singh and Saif Ali Khan. With such a star-studded cast and a massive budget, Adipurush is sure to be a box office hit. It remains to be seen if it will be able to break the records set by SS Rajamouli’s RRR and Prabhas’s own Baahubali 2.