'RRR' makes a killing at the box-office with Rs 500 crore... but all is not well between Alia Bhatt and SS Rajamouli

Starring in the lead role in director SS Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Rise Roar Revolt' ('RRR') was a big deal for Bollywood star Alia Bhatt. It was her grand entry in the world of South Indian films. But things did not go as planned.

Reports suggested that the 29-year-old wasn't too happy with her Southern debut movie, and had reportedly unfollowed Rajamouli on her Instagram. However, after reports of the rift spread like wild fire, the actress quickly decided to add him back to her friends' list.

From following 437 accounts in the morning, her list increased to 474 - with the 'Baahubali' director being one of them. Whereas, the film-maker continues to follow only three accounts - official handle of 'RRR', his son SS Karthikeya, and 'Baahubali' producer Shobu Yarlagadda.

While there is no evidence to back the claim that Bhatt had unfollowed Rajamouli on her Instagram, when writing the article, we had noticed that the actress was following only 437 accounts on the photo-blogging platform, and the film-maker wasn't one of them.

Upset with the limited screen space in the final cut of the film, reports also said that the 'Gangubai Kathiawadi' star seemed to have also deleted some of the posts related to 'RRR' from her Insta feed. After the reports started circulating, Bhatt dropped an Insta Story of the movie poster that did not feature her.

Fans were quick to point out that Bhatt had gone inactive for a while during the second leg of the movie's promotions, except for being present at the big event. The actress was seen promoting the film passionately before it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some critics too believe that Rajamouli failed to pen a strong character for Bhatt in his recent film, considering her Bollywood stardom.

Released on March 25 (Friday), the movie is already shattering box-office records.

In its opening weekend, 'RRR' has reached the Rs 500-crore-mark in the worldwide gross box-office collection. Movie trade analyst Taran Adarsh said that the Bhatt-starrer has set a new benchmark for future movies in the pandemic.

The film critic also said that 'RRR' became India's biggest-ever opener with Rs 223 crore worldwide, crossing record of 'Baahubali 2', which had made Rs 217 crore worldwide on its opening day.

Besides Bhatt, the cast of the Telugu-language epic period action drama includes Jr NTR, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, Samuthirakani, Alison Doody, Ray Stevenson, Olivia Morris and Shriya Saran.

Set in pre-independence India, 'RRR' is a fictional take on the younger days of celebrated freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem and Alluri Seetharama Raju, portrayed by Jr. NTR and Ram Charan.

The movie is out in five languages - Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam.