‘Samrat Prithviraj’ director blames Akshay Kumar for failure

‘Samrat Prithviraj’ Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi blames lead actor Akshay Kumar for the film’s box office failure.

As the historical drama bombs the box office, with a total gross of Rs 80 crore against the mega-budget of Rs 300 crore, title director Dwivedi hints that the main lead’s controversies and his latest endorsement of Pan Masala could be the reason for the debacle.

During a recent interview with an India-based magazine, Dwivedi claimed that Akshay’s “past behaviour” and “public comments” could have turned the public against him. He indirectly also stated that his ‘endorsement of Pan Masala and the controversy has subsequently resulted’ in the failure of ‘Samrat Prithviraj’.

It is pertinent to mention that the director previously revealed his first choice to play the lead role. In a conversation, he pointed out that the story for ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ was written 18 years ago with Sunny Deol in the lead role in mind.

Additionally, citing ‘political victimization’ as a possible reason for BO’s failure, Dwivedi commented, “I would very much like historians to question this film or tell its story.”

“Now, because you don’t want to hear the story according to me and therefore dismiss it completely, it’s completely wrong. History doesn’t work that way.”

“We made the movie on a grand scale, but people couldn’t connect with the movie,” he said. “I still don’t understand what’s wrong with them. The writers did their work with the utmost sincerity.”

“We have not manipulated the facts of history. We understand this responsibility very well.”

Samrat Prithviraj sees Akshay Kumar and manushi chhillar playing leading roles, while the the rest of the cast includes Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Manav Vij, Ashutosh Rana, Sakshi Tanwar, and Aishwarya Raj Bhakuni.

The film is written and directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi. It is co-produced by Aditya Chopra, Bharat Rawail, Sanjay Shivalkar and Amit Tomar.