Padmaavat, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus, may have had the most difficult release a film has had to face in the country but the box office numbers may just work as a soothing balm for the wounds. The controversial epic on the life and times of a Rajput queen has raked in Rs 220 crore worldwide in its very first week.
The film, starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Alauddin Khilji, has made Rs 143 crore at the domestic box office and Rs 76 crore internationally. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the figures in a tweet on Wednesday. “#Padmaavat shows no signs of slowing down... Biz is SUPER-STRONG on weekdays... Wed [limited previews] 5 cr, Thu 19 cr, Fri 32 cr, Sat 27 cr, Sun 31 cr, Mon 15 cr, Tue 14 cr. Total: Rs 143 cr. India biz. Overseas opening weekend: approx $ 12 million [Rs 76.24 cr]. OUTSTANDING!,” he wrote in his tweet.
Padmaavat released on Thursday, January 25, but also hosted paid previews on January, February 24. It tells the story of Khilji’s conquest of Chittor upon falling for the queen’s beauty. The film received tremendous flak due to rumours of an alleged dream sequence between the sultan and the queen, ‘misrepresentation of history’ and ‘disrespect towards the Rajput community’. Its December 1 release was postponed to January 25 due to the turmoil all over the country.
Outfits such as the Karni Sena and the All India Brajmandal Kshatriya Rajput Mahasabha put bounties on the actor and director’s heads and asked for a nationwide ban on the film. Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh state governments had also installed a ban on the film until the Supreme Court paved the way for the film’s release across India. Even then, theatre associations refused to screen the film in the four states.
{{/usCountry}}Outfits such as the Karni Sena and the All India Brajmandal Kshatriya Rajput Mahasabha put bounties on the actor and director’s heads and asked for a nationwide ban on the film. Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh state governments had also installed a ban on the film until the Supreme Court paved the way for the film’s release across India. Even then, theatre associations refused to screen the film in the four states.
{{/usCountry}}In the rest of the states across the country, the film opened to mixed reviews but a positive reception among the viewers.Most theatres in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities saw heavy police security after a school bus was attacked in Gurugram a day before the film’s release.
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