'Samrat Prithviraj' Director Opens Up On Creative Differences With Aditya Chopra While Working On Akshay Kumar-Starrer
'Samrat Prithviraj' director opens up on the failure of the Akshay Kumar-starrer at the box office.
Hopes were really high from Akshay Kumar's 2022 film 'Samrat Prithviraj', which was directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and backed by Yash Raj Films. It was being expected that the Hindi film will bring audience back to the theatres after a dry spell of the Covid pandemic. However, the film turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of 2022. In the latest entertainment news, the film's director has opened up about the failure of the film and he also expressed how he raised his objections to producer Aditya Chopra during the making of the film.
Speaking to Mukesh Khanna on his YouTube channel. Dwivedi said that even before the release of the film, the audience started talking about the negative aspects of the movie.
“They were objecting to how Akshay was looking in the film. One of the objections was about how the actress (Manushi Chillar) was so much younger and Akshay, who was 55 then, was playing the role of a 26-year-old king. Then there was a question about his moustache as to why did he not have a real moustache. They even said that the frame of his body was nothing like Prithviraj. Today, honestly, I would like to confess that most of these objections were right,” he said.
“In this film, different people had different roles and responsibilities. I was the weakest of the lot. Had people fulfilled their duties, then this question would not have come up," he added.
The director then also spoke about the producer Aditya Chopra and how the latter had a completely different vision and both of their ideas were not matching while making a historical film.
“People who get a producer like Aditya Chopra are quite fortunate. He is a sorted man who sees the project through but he has his own vision, and that was with regards to Prithviraj as well. He is not just a financier, he is also a creative person. He had certain ideas which should have been discussed in the beginning. I think his and my idea of history is poles apart. There was never a point where I did not not express my objections to him," he said.
"But despite putting across my objections, I did the film anyway. During the making, YRF believed that this film will work wonders. No one thought that this would be the fate of the film,” he added.
Chandraprakash Dwivedi also said that after the debacle of 'Samrat Prithviraj', he and Akshay Kumar have both learnt that “no one should tamper with history”.
"Even after the film, I told Akshay that this country sees you as a national icon. Akshay is a successful actor and he has that place in my life where I can criticise him to his face. I did not just critricse him in words, I also wrote to him about it on email, and even after that, there was no tension in our relationship,” he added.
'Samrat Prithviraj' was eventually one of the biggest failures of 2022. The film made only Rs 68 crore at the box office and was criticised severely for playing with historical facts.
