Analyzing The Curious Case Of Samrat Prithviraj's Failure

On paper, Samrat Prithviraj was guaranteed to be a success. With an A-list actor as the male lead, the winner of Miss World 2017 as the female lead, a 300 crore budget, and the director of the acclaimed Chanakya show signed on for the project, the film looked perfect. 

But that success was nowhere to be found. As per Bollywood Hungama, the movie collected a mere ₹67.80 cr in its entire run. So what made such a prestigious project fall head first at the box office? Here we will discuss just that. 

The Akshay Kumar Controversy

Problems for the movie began from the first trailer itself. Everyone from Youtube commentators to Redditors pointed out that Akshay Kumar didn't quite look like the King.

 

People complained that he didn't sport longish hair and his moustache looked fake. Moreover, it felt like the actor had devoted zero time to actually develop his body. Many concluded that he was just cosplaying as the King. 

 

To make matters worse, Akshay put his foot-in-mouth by publicly saying that he had devoted only 40 days for shooting the movie during the trailer launch event.

This sent the internet on a frenzy. Memes and jokes were everywhere as Bollywood fans trolled the lead actor. Positive reception for the movie dwindled further.

The Age-Gap Factor

Manushi Chillar as Princess Sanyogita and Akshay Kumar as Samrat Prithviraj 

In Bollywood, seeing young actresses paired up with way older co-stars is a common occurrence. So eyebrows weren't raised when it was announced that Manushi Chillar, the winner of Miss World 2017 would be portraying Rani Sanyogita opposite Akshay Kumar's titular king in the movie. 

 

What ultimately mattered was the pair's chemistry on-screen. But all hopes were dashed once the trailer released. Manushi looked visibly younger than Akshay. Also, as a pair they had no on-screen chemistry. 

The internet was filled with discussions around the age-gap of the two. People asked- why do we rarely see the reverse in mainstream Bollywood movies with older actresses and younger actors?  

The Marketing Issue

Samrat Prithviraj title card

In Bollywood, songs of the movie are released after the trailer is put out. It helps generate publicity and catch the audience's attention. But curiously, this wasn't done for Samrat Prithviraj. Only one song titled "Hari Har" was released before the movie. 

Its soulful track, "Makhmali," and the holi themed song "Hadd Kar De" were released after the movie was in theaters. Maybe YRF thought that not releasing the songs would allow audiences to experience them first hand in theaters? 

Guess the marketing team underestimated the lead star and subject matter's pull.

The Movie Itself

War scene in Samrat Prithviraj

Samrat Prithviraj is a decent one-time watch. Its action scenes are lacklustre and there's nothing grand about the movie. One truly has to wonder where those ₹300 crores were spent.

 

Baahubali: The Beginning, was reportedly made on a budget of 180 crores and it had grand war and palace scenes. Nothing of which can be seen here. 

Moreover, it feels like we are rushing from one scene to the other without giving anything the time to breathe. As a result, viewers failed to connect with the characters and the world. due to this, even the final emotional scene fell flat. 

However, this isn't a slight on the actors part. Ashutosh Rana, Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, and others delivered a remarkable performance. Sadly, the same can't be said for leads Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chillar.

Overall, it wasn't one but several reasons altogether that buried the Samrat Prithviraj movie. However, it's clear that the main fault lies with the film that failed to impress audiences.