Fans of actor Prabhas have taken to social media to compare ‘Adipurush’ (2023) with ‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ (2026) after the latter’s first-day numbers were reported. The comparison has sparked a fresh online debate on budgets, star power and which film made the bigger splash at the ticket window.
Fans question budget versus opening
Many users pointed to the difference in the reported cost of the two films. One X user wrote, “Ramayana worth Rs 4,000 crore vs Adipurush worth Rs 500-700 crore. Ramayana left Adipurush far behind in terms of budget, but the opening day figures changed the whole game. Ramayana opened with Rs 125 crore, while Adipurush earned Rs 140 crore on its first day. Meaning the budget was 6-8 times higher, but Adipurush still came out ahead in the opening. Records are not made just by investing money, sir; one also has to win the hearts of the people (sic).”
Prabhas fans call him ‘king of openings’
Another fan said they never expected to be celebrating the Day 1 numbers of ‘Adipurush’, but felt the moment called for it. “Never thought I’d be flexing Adipurush’s Day 1 records, but here we are! #Prabhas is the undisputed King of Openings. Just give him a solid director and good content, and watch him unleash (sic),” the fan wrote.
Claims about the 2023 film’s record
Social media users also talked about the unusual opening run of the 2023 release. One user said ‘Adipurush’ is still “the only non-sequel Bollywood film to achieve a Rs 100 crore opening in India”, even though the film drew heavy criticism for its visual effects and content when it came out.Another fan said Prabhas managed an Rs 140 crore worldwide opening “without a massive budget and trolled animated content” and argued that this proved his drawing power.A third user said ‘Adipurush’ remains “the biggest opening Bollywood non-sequel film.” According to the user, the new film ranks third overall behind ‘Dhurandhar 2’ and the 2023 epic, while “comfortably crossing Jawan’s Rs 120 crore opening” and giving Ranbir Kapoor his “second Rs 100 crore opening for Ranbir Kapoor after Animal’s Rs 116 crore gross.”
What the Day 1 figures say
As per Sacnilk, ‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ earned Rs 64.85 crore net in India across 25,200 shows on its first day. Its worldwide gross stood at Rs 127.50 crore. The Hindi version led the collections, while the dubbed versions added Rs 7.25 crore from Kannada (1,197 shows), Rs 6 crore from Telugu (1,776 shows), Rs 2.60 crore from Tamil (992 shows) and Rs 1.50 crore from Malayalam (557 shows).For comparison, ‘Adipurush’ collected Rs 86.75 crore nett in India on Day 1 across all languages, led by the Telugu version and followed by Hindi. Sacnilk reported its worldwide gross at Rs 128.08 crore.
Cast and background of both films
Directed by Om Raut, ‘Adipurush’ stars Prabhas as Raghav, Kriti Sanon as Janaki, Sunny Singh as Shesh, Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh and Devdatta Nage as Bajrang. Viewers were divided over its take on Sant Valmiki’s Ramayan and Goswami Tulsidas’s epic poem, Ramcharitmanas.‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ features Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Goddess Sita, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, Yash as Ravana and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. The film released in theatres on November 5, 2026.
