“Audience is the real king”, the filmy dialogue now does not seem a reel-life statement, owing to the recent trends. Adipurush, a multistarrer Indian movie — featuring the likes of Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan, and Kriti Sanon — attracted fierce online criticism after the teaser launch recently. The online trolling and blunt criticism of VFX forced the filmmakers to postpone the release date by reportedly at least six months.
The decision of Adipurush filmmakers further reinforces the new dominant role of Indian audiences in the Box office industry.
Why Was Adipurush Trolled?
Adipurush was at the mercy of social media trollers after its teaser launch last month.
Several social media users expressed their disappointment over the bad VFX (Visual effects), terming it a “cartoon movie”.
Netizens were critical of the bad-looking CGI (Computer-generated imagery) in the teaser of the movie.
Several users made memes of Saif Ali Khan riding on a weird crossover of bat and dragon.
The filmmakers were also criticised over gross inaccurate character portrayals of Raavan and Shri Ram. Meanwhile, there were other social media users who were quick to remind about the 30-year-old Ramayan anime movie, comparing the classic Yugo Saki creation with Adipurush.
Bowing Down to Viewers
In face of fierce criticism, the movie’s release date has been postponed.
As per reports, the decision was undertaken to work on VFX or present a “complete visual experience” as stated by its director and writer Om Raut.
The phenomenon of postponing a movie’s release is not relatively new in Indian cinema or Bollywood. However, the reason was always a clash with a bigger movie, not a negative public reception.
It is noteworthy that not long ago, Indian viewers launched a heated online campaign against Bollywood movies. Films such as Brahmastra faced the brunt of the campaign as the audience demanded a better performance by the film industry.
The audience’s reorientation of the box office industry is part of a bigger picture — the rise of the Indian consumer, who does not take content or service at face value. This has been made possible only due to recent trends such as the digitalisation of the Indian society, which has pitched more varieties for a common consumer in India. Simply put, a viewer would prefer watching OTT content rather than paying heavy bucks to view Kapoors and Khans in a Bollywood movie.
