Akshay Kumar-led Samrat Prithviraj is now out in the theatres and reactions have started pouring in from the audience. Earlier when the trailer was released many found the Khiladi Kumar to be a misfit as the legendary Hindu King Prithviraj. Social media users slammed YRF for selecting Akshay for the titular role and even came up with their options as to who could have played the last Hindu king of India with aplomb.
On the other hand, Akshay made all efforts to promote his movie on different platforms including arranging a premiere for Home Minister Amit Shah and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath. This has indeed helped the movie because Yogji declared it tax-free in his state. Following suit, the Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh have also declared the movie tax-free. So the card of patriotism indeed worked at least at the political level.
But will it be able to attract the audience to the theatres in the way 'The Kashmir Files', based on the genocide of Hindus during the 90s, created a stir? The first reactions that are currently available on social media indicate that the movie is not as bad as was projected by a few social media users and there is a strong possibility that the storytelling by a renowned historian like Chandraprakash Dwivedi and the overall presentation might have made a big difference.
Miss World Manushi Chillar made her Bollywood debut as Sanyogita with Samrat Prithviraj while Manav Vij has been roped in to play the role of Muhammad of Ghori. Since initial reviews are good to moderate, there is a strong possibility that the screens will increase and the movie might become a blockbuster through word of mouth.