Last year’s highly anticipated religious epic Adipurush ended up as one of the most trolled films in recent memory, completely failing to meet expectations.
Prabhas’ portrayal of Lord Rama was widely criticized, and he faced significant backlash, especially from the Hindi-speaking audience.
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However, the majority of the criticism was directed at director Om Raut, whose flawed vision and weak execution wasted the film’s resources and talent.
While Prabhas didn’t escape unhurt (read here), his reputation due to Baahubali somewhat cushioned the blow.
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Now, his latest film, Kalki 2898 AD, which the makers claim has already done business worth over 1000 crores, is streaming on OTT platforms. Unfortunately, the reception has been overwhelmingly negative.
What worked visually in theaters feels flat and dull on OTT at home. Social media reviews reveal that many viewers either skipped the entire first half or fast-forwarded through it, finding it tedious and uninspiring.
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This time, Prabhas is bearing the brunt of the trolling more intensely. The goodwill he built with Baahubali is fading fast, with Hindi audiences calling his performance in Kalki 2898 AD lazy and lethargic.
Right from his introduction action scene to the last climax fight, his performance is inconsistent. It’s sad to see an actor with such a commanding screen presence and a larger-than-life personality now being deemed unwatchable by many.
Even Arshad Warsi’s recent comments on Prabhas’ role have resonated with those who saw the film on OTT, with many agreeing with Arshad’s opinion.
Prabhas has die-hard fans in Tollywood who will lap up anything he does. But the Hindi audience isn’t as rewarding. They are extremely judgmental and critical, and Prabhas needs to improve significantly. He is sticking out like a sore thumb in his movies, and this pattern keeps repeating itself.
Sadly, Kalki 2898 AD is turning out to be worse than Adipurush for Prabhas.
He should treat this as a wake-up call and take the criticism positively and seriously.
Prabhas has become overly dependent on directors, technical departments, and VFX teams to present him well.
Director Nag Ashwin is also to blame for failing to present Prabhas effectively, not just in terms of his appearance but also his character arc. To put things in perspective, have we ever seen the lead hero of a 1000-crore epic film being trolled? Hopefully, the director realizes where he went wrong and how the timing of the release contributed to the film’s commercial success.
In an ideal world, Kalki 2898 AD should have been a repeat of Rajamouli’s Baahubali in terms of popularity and goodwill for the director, but instead, the lead actor has become a target for trolling.
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