The biopic on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Ajey The Untold Story of a Yogi, finally hit cinemas on Friday. Despite heavy promotions and an IMDb rating of 7.8, the film could not bring audiences to theatres on its opening day.
Ajey The Untold Story Of A Yogi Box Office Collection Day 1
The film was first scheduled to release on August 1, but was delayed due to the censor board objections. Expectations were high, but the film opened weakly with poor advance bookings.
On day 1, Ajey collected only Rs 20 lakh net at the Indian box office. This is a very low start for a film based on such a big political figure. Comparisons made it look worse, as Akshay Kumar’s Jolly LLB 3 opened strong and even Anurag Kashyap’s Nishaanchi (though underperforming) attracted more attention than Ajey.
Experts believe that unless the film grows over the weekend, the shows may be reduced. It’s unlikely that makers will recover the reported budget of Rs 15 crore through BO earnings.
While collections were dull, Yogi’s supporters showed great excitement at screenings in Lucknow and Varanasi. People chanted “Yogi-Yogi,” “Jai Shri Ram,” and “Yogi Baba Zindabad” inside cinemas.
Director Ravindra Gautam (known for Maharani 2 and Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami) is still hopeful. He said, “This film will perform well mainly because it has all the elements that connect with the audience.”
More About The Film
AJEY is based on Shantanu Gupta’s book The Monk Who Became Chief Minister. Gautam shared that his team did detailed research, even visiting Yogi’s ancestral home in Uttarakhand and meeting his family. Inspired by Yogi’s lifestyle, the crew even gave up non-vegetarian food during the making.
He also revealed that Yogi was an MSc science student before he became a monk at 22. Gautam said, “We even researched how Yogi Ji reacts when he is angry to portray his personality as authentically as possible.”
Ajey The Untold Story of a Yogi follows Ajay Anand, a young student who enters politics after the killing of leader Awadhesh Rai. He begins fighting for students’ rights, later renounces worldly life, and eventually rises to become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
The film stars Anant Joshi in the lead role along with Dinesh Lal Yadav, Paresh Rawal, Ajay Mengi, Pawan Malhotra, Rajesh Khattar, Garima Vikrant Singh, and Sarwar Ahuja.
