Ramayana vs Adipurush: Why Ranbir Kapoor, Yash's combined star power failed to beat Prabhas' much-maligned adaptation at the box office
Here's the latest box office buzz making the rounds:
A good benchmark for an Indian movie, in terms of wide rollout, is 10,000 screens globally. Most tentpole Indian films - the RRRs and Jawans of the industry - secure 6000-7000 screens in India and 3000+ overseas. That is what a wide international rollout means. That is why Ramayana was considered historic. Sony Pictures gave it 50,000 screens outside India, 15 times what an Indian movie normally gets. Even in India, the movie managed 8000-9000 screens, higher than any movie in the multiplex era. On top of that, it had positive reactions and reviews in its favour.
Adding to this, Ramayana was unable to match Adipurush's day 1 ticket-window earnings. Yet, it fell short of that expected historic start. In fact, it fell short of even Adipurush , the much-derided and maligned adaptation of the epic from three years ago. How did that happen? The answer lies in a combination of misfired marketing for Ramayana and the tsunami that is Telugu fandom in the case of Adipurush.
Meanwhile, When it hit the screens in June 2023, Adipurush was the most expensive Indian movie ever made. Mounted on a budget of ₹ 550 crore rupees, it starred Prabhas as Lord Rama, Kriti Sanon as Sita, and Saif Ali Khan as Ravana. It secured around 6500 screens in India on rollout day and 3000 screens overseas. This was one of the widest releases for an Indian movie, bigger than Baahubali 2 and almost at par with RRR and Pathaan.
Notably, In comparison, Ramayana Part 1 has been mounted on a ₹ 1600-crore rupees budget, the highest in Indian cinema history. It boasts of two big stars - Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Yash as Ravana. Courtesy this, it secured 9000 screens across India. Its distribution deal with Sony Pictures gave it access to 50,000 screens overseas. This is almost 5x the scale of any Indian movie rollout in the last 30 years.
As per the latest buzz, Ramayana opened to ₹ 64.85 crore rupees net collection in India, largely on the back of a ₹ 47-crore rupees day for its Hindi version. It sold around 25 lakh tickets across the country and was propped up in terms of collections by premium formats such as IMAX. Three years ago, Adipurush opened to ₹ 86.75 crore rupees net on its opening day. The movie had collected ₹ 37 crore rupees net in Hindi and a staggering ₹ 48 crore rupees net in Telugu. Its total ticket sales on day 1 were 55 lakh, much higher than Ramayana's. The chief reason for this was Prabhas’ popularity. The star’s fandom led to a record-breaking opening for the movie in the Telugu states and parts of North India, despite negative reviews. This meant that Ramayana could not surpass these numbers despite a much higher average ticket price and a wider rollout.
In further updates, With 50,000 screens overseas, Ramayana was aiming for a global-level rollout, the kind major Hollywood blockbusters get worldwide. Yet, its day 1 collections do not reflect that ambition. The movie opened with an international gross of around $5.3 million, lower than Dhurandhar 2's earlier this year. And that movie was banned in the Gulf. Adipurush, on the other hand, collected $3 million on its first day overseas, but in just 6% of the screen count. This shows that the wide rollout was unable to generate the desired buzz for Ramayana. Its earnings numbers remained at a level comparable to those of any big Indian movie.
On top of that, If Ramayana has any hope of recouping its costs, the overseas business needs to pick up via word of mouth over the remainder of the weekend. The domestic business may see a boost during and after Diwali given the highly positive first reactions. In the long run, Ramayana will certainly surpass what Adipurush achieved, possibly in its opening weekend, but its day 1 collections betray its ambitions.
Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari. The movie stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. A sequel is scheduled for rollout in 2028.
Source: Hindustan Times