Salaar: Prabhas and Prithviraj’s action thriller smashes box office records, gets mixed reviews from critics and fans

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Salaar is a 2023 action thriller film directed by Prashanth Neel and starring Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Shruti Haasan. The film is set in a dystopian world where two childhood friends become rivals due to a political coup. The film is the first part of a planned duology, with the subtitle Ceasefire.

The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, who praised the performances of Prabhas and Prithviraj, the action sequences, the cinematography and the production design, but criticized the slow pace, the weak script, the lack of originality and the excessive violence. Some critics also compared the film unfavorably to Neel's previous work, KGF.

The film was a huge commercial success, grossing over Rs 550 crore worldwide in eight days of its release. It became the seventh film of the year to cross the Rs 500 crore mark globally, following Pathaan, Jawan, Leo, Gadar 2, Jailer and Animal. The film also broke several records, such as the highest opening day collection for a Telugu film, the highest opening weekend collection for an Indian film, and the fastest film to reach Rs 300 crore in India.

Here is a summary of some of the reviews and box office collections of Salaar:

- The Times of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "a riveting tale of power and brotherhood in a dystopian world". The review praised the performances of Prabhas and Prithviraj, the action scenes, the music and the visuals, but also noted that the film "might require some patience in the initial stages" and that it "relies heavily on drama as well as swag and action". 
- IMDb gave the film 6.7 out of 10 based on 49,000 user ratings. The review highlighted the "epic action blast" from Prabhas, the "mind blowing ending" and the "great second half", but also pointed out the "average first half", the "filler scenes" and the "repetitive" plot. 
- Business Today reported that the film crossed Rs 550 crore in eight days at the global box office, with Rs 318 crore coming from India and Rs 238.84 crore from overseas markets. The report also mentioned that the film faced competition from Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki, which released a day before Salaar, but managed to hold its ground