Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel announced on Tuesday that Akshay Kumar’s Bollywood movie ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ will be tax-free in Gujarat. The movie is based on the life of Rajput emperor Prithviraj Chauhan and his full of spirit of patriotism was released on June 3 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Earlier, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have also declared the movie tax-free. The movie was originally titled Prithviraj. Then the film was renamed Samrat Prithviraj following court litigation filed by Karni Sena a week ahead of its scheduled release. In March 2022, Karni Sena started protesting against the film, seeking assurance from the makers that the film would not tamper with the historic facts.
Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chillar are in the lead roles. The film also marks the acting debut of Miss World 2017 Manushi Chillar, who will be seen as Princess Sanyogita. For the unversed, Sunny Deol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were the original choices for the roles of Prithviraj and Sanyogita.
Director Chandraprakash Dwivedi said that the production team have always felt that a film like Samrat Prithviraj will make every Indian proud. Hence they tried to create a visual spectacle befitting the heroics of the mighty king and I’m happy with how the start of the film has been at the box office.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also praised the movie’s cast and said that as a student of history, he not only enjoyed watching this film depicting India’s cultural heritage but also understood its importance to Indians. Shah revealed that after 13 years, he has seen a film in a theatre with his family.
Yash Raj Films informed that the historical drama “Samrat Prithviraj” which was made at a budget of ₹175 crores, has collected ₹10.70 crore on day one. On Saturday and Sunday, the movie did a business of ₹12.60 crore and ₹16.10 crore at the box office, taking its three day total to ₹39.40 crore net, the Yash Raj Films added.
