Recently, the failure of Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar starrer Samrat Prithviraj sent chills to the Hindi film industry. The movie, which was made on a massive budget of INR 300 Crore, failed to impress the audience and turned out to be a colossal box office failure. Unfortunately, this movie was Yash Raj Films’ second major flop in a row after Ranveer Singh headlined Jayeshbhai Jordaar.
“He wouldn’t even grow a real moustache, as he was doing another project”: Source
As per various reports, Samrat Prithviraj, which was made on a budget of INR 300 Crore, is expected to wrap under INR 100 crore at the box office. Recently, some reports have surfaced according to which the onus of Samrat Prithviraj’s failure is being placed on its leading man Akshay Kumar’s shoulder. Akshay Kumar’s lack of committment to the project has been reasoned out for the movie’s failure.
“He wouldn’t listen. The film required a dedicated concentration. He wouldn’t even grow a real mustache, as he was doing other project simultaneously. When playing someone so historically important, why couldn’t he have done just this one project, and given his best to it?” a source was quoted as saying by National Herald.
No wonder why many netizens compared Akshay Kumar’s Prithviraj look with his other character – Bala from Housefull 4.
I Am Not An Actor Who Takes A Couple Of Months To Get Into Character: Akshay Kumar
In light of these inputs, one couldn’t forget that in his old interview, Akshay Kumar, himself spoke about how he doesn’t take much time to get into the skin of his on-screen characters. In his promotional interview, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar revealed that despite taking a number of breaks during the year, he is able to work in “three-four films a year” only because he does not like to take too much time to get into the skin of his on-screen characters.
“I am not an actor who takes a couple of months to get into the character. I start a film, finish it and move on to my next project. I recently finished ‘Raksha Bandhan’ and now I am moving on to ‘Cinderella’. Once that gets done, I will start with ‘Ram Setu’,” he said in an interview.
“I have been doing this for my entire career, I don’t think why I should stop it. I don’t find [any] difficulty. I work eight hours a day. I take maximum [number of] holidays in film industry and manage to do three-four films a year and release it. If your work becomes your passion, you get the energy automatically,” added the 53-year-old actor.
But, sadly, how Akshay’s movies have performed recently at the box office should make him reconsider his approach.
Boycott Akshay for his acting as Prithviraj makes no sense: Dr. Dwivedi
In a different interview, Dr. Dwivedi, the movie director also shared how he couldn’t understand why people would boycott Akshay Kumar’s movies based on his past behavior. In his interview, he said “See, it’s not like you don’t have the right to reject an actor but he’s been working for 30 years so you know his capabilities. Akshay Kumar has done the role to the best of his potential. He is not the first actor whose performance the audience hasn’t liked but to boycott him for his acting as Prithviraj makes no sense; boycotting his film due to things he has done in the past, such as promoting paan masala or saying that one shouldn’t give Lord Shiva milk, makes no sense because these matters have nothing to do with the movie at all.”
But, based on the netizens, there have been multiple reasons why the movie didn’t work. From age-inappropriate casting to factual inaccuracy to miserable goof-ups, movie lovers have been really vocal about the debacle of Samrat Prithviraj.
After two back-to-back failures, YRF will be hoping to bounce back with Ranbir Kapoor starrer Shamshera, which is slated to release on July 22. The first teaser of the Karan Malhotra directorial has been unveiled and the film looks promising. It features Vaani Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt as well. As for Akshay, he will next be seen in Aanand L Rai’s Raksha Bandhan alongside Bhumi Pednekar. The film will hit the screens on August 11.
What do you think is the reason behind the failure of Samrat Prithviraj? Tell us in the comments below.