Akshay Kumar is bracing himself for another huge flop after Bachchan Pandey after his latest release Prithviraj lost steam at the box office on Monday. The film, which had a budget of Rs. 270 crore – Rs. 300 crore, is believed to have made just under Rs. 5 crore on the fourth day of its release, taking its overall earning so far to around Rs. 45 crore.
The film earned a little over Rs. 39 crore in the first three days of its release but miserably filmed the Monday test. Prithviraj’s Monday collection is estimated to be around Rs. 4.5 crore. This effectively means that the controversial film may struggle to cross Rs. 60 crore mark.
Analysts say that the poor box office performance by Prithviraj will result in huge losses for its producers, Yashraj Films. The famous Bollywood production house is staring at a rare loss of around Rs. 100 crore even after its earnings from digital and satellite rights.
Akshay had courted huge controversies by making Islamophobic comments during the promotion of the film. Many had pointed out factual inaccuracies in the film and alleged that attempts were made to indulge in propaganda to woo Hindus in a bid to incite them against India’s Muslims.
It appears that the makers were buoyed by the success of another propaganda film, Kashmir Files. Several BJP governments had issued a tax-free status to Prithviraj, but even that could not stop the film from becoming a huge box office disaster.
In contrast, two south Indian films that were released the same time as Prithviraj have become huge commercial hits. They are Vikram and Major. While Kamal Haasan’s Vikram has earned close to Rs. 200 crore in the first four days of its release, Major too has made close Rs. 40 crore in the same period.
Prithviraj also saw the debut of former Miss World Manushi Chhillar with the film also featuring Sonu Sood and Sanjay Dutt among others.
