Films come and go, but there’s a lot that happens before and after they release. Adipurush is a recent example of this. The film has been making headlines for too many reasons ever since it was announced. The film is based on the mythological epic Ramayana, and is directed by Om Raut. Of course, it’s a take on the timeless story, but its VFX are something that received a lot of flak – among other things.
And now that it is finally releasing, here’s a round up of everything that caught our attention.
1. A seat for Lord Hanuman.
After the final trailer of the film was released, there were announcements about a special seat that will be reserved. This was when director Om Raut requested the producers and exhibitors to keep one seat empty in every theater as a mark of respect for Lord Hanuman. This is something that hasn’t been done before, so there was a lot of discussion around the same.
2. Overpriced tickets next to the reserved seat.
When Om Raut announced that there will be one seat in all theatres that will be left empty for Lord Hanuman, a number of rumours also came up. There were news stories and posts that said that the tickets around that seat will be expensive. According to these rumours, it’d cost extra. However, T-Series shared an official statement stating that this was false and misleading information.
3. The price of the tickets.
According to some reports, some theatre seats are selling even for ₹2000 for first day shows. These are of course in select places for select shows. But this is still big news for a film selling its tickets at such high prices, specifically when audiences have already been complaining about ticket prices over the past few months.
4. Celebrities donating tickets.
On the other hand, there have been a number of posts and stories about celebrities donating movie tickets. Apparently, Ranbir Kapoor and Abhishek Agarwal announced that they’d donate 10,000 Adipurush tickets each to underprivileged kids, at government schools and old age homes.
5. Adipurush will not get an IMAX release.
It was also noted by people and news outlets that the film is not being shown on IMAX screens, when the pre-booking started. This certainly brought in a lot of reaction from viewers who were hoping otherwise. The thing with films made on a larger scale, visually, is that an IMAX screen increases the image resolution by using a larger film frame. Now, DC’s Flash is releasing on the same day, so Warner Bros. Pictures had blocked the IMAX screens in advance.
6. Kriti Sanon’s shawl inspired by tales of Ayodhya.
Recently during promotions, Kriti Sanon donned a shawl which represented the tales of Ayodhya. Her stylist shared pictures and details adding that it took two years to conceptualize and over 6000 working hours to create it. The shawl takes references from pictures and texts to showcase everything – palaces, clothing, vegetation, birds and animals.
“Intimate observations of books, references helped the artist to create the drawings so accurately. Each glance reveals a small detail that has been put together with precision.”
7. Distribution rights of the film.
Ever since Adipurush was announced, people have been talking about the budget of the film. So, audiences and analysts are also focused on how much it earns. This not only includes ticket sales but other earnings as well. Reportedly, the film’s distribution rights alone have made a business of ₹270 crore. Also, reports suggest that OTT and satellite rights of the film have been sold for ₹210 crore.
Cinema holds a lot more power than we give it credit for, and so everything around it makes up for widely consumable information – which again, has an impact.