Exclusive! Did Chandraprakash Dwivedi blame Akshay Kumar for ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ failure? Here’s what he says… | Hindi Movie News

Akshay Kumar and Manushi Chhillar’s historical drama ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ turned out to be one of the biggest flops of 2022. The film that was made on a budget of Rs 300 crore, managed to garner merely around Rs 100 crore at the box office. The film was surrounded in controversies even before its release. Reportedly, director Chandraprakash Dwivedi had said that he did not agree with Akshay Kumar’s statement that King Prithviraj was underrepresented in history text books. National Herald reported that the makers and directors of ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ are blaming Akshay Kumar for the failure of the movie.

“He (Akshay) wouldn’t listen. The film required a dedicated concentration. He wouldn’t even grow a real moustache, as he was doing other projects simultaneously. When playing someone so historically important, why couldn’t he have done just this one project, and given his best to it?” the report quoted a source.

Speaking to ETimes, Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi has dismissed the reports claiming he blamed Akshay for the film’s failure. “In the last four years we have come closer to each other. He is not only an actor for me. He is more than an actor – a friend, a well wisher, a guardian. He is younger to me but behaves like a guardian. I never blamed him for the failure of the film. Why should I? If he wouldn’t have been there, the film would never have been made. If anybody is responsible for the failure of ‘Samrat Prithviraj’, it is me. I don’t understand my audience,” he said.

Dwivedi further went on to add that ‘whatever is being printed is not my quote.’

In an earlier interaction with Film Companion, Chandraprakash Dwivedi had said that it wasn’t right that people boycotted the movie because of Akshay’s past controversies. He said, “See, it’s not like you don’t have the right to reject an actor but he’s been working for 30 years so you know his capabilities. Akshay Kumar has done the role to the best of his potential. He is not the first actor whose performance the audience hasn’t liked but to boycott him for his acting as Prithviraj makes no sense; boycotting his film due to things he has done in the past, such as promoting paan masala or saying that one shouldn’t give Lord Shiva milk, makes no sense because these matters have nothing to do with the movie at all.”