A still from Ruslaan. (courtesy: aaysharma)
The one-week report card of Aayush Sharma's Ruslaan is finally here. The Karan Butani directorial on day 7 minted ₹0.04 crore at the domestic box office, as per Sacnilk. After this, Ruslaan's total collection now stands at ₹3.75 crore. The action thriller's box office numbers witnessed a dip on its first Thursday at the ticket counters, compared to its business on day 6, when it amassed ₹0.46 crore. Ruslaan, which hit the theatres on April 26, features Aayush Sharma in the titular role. The actor essays the son of a dead terrorist, who is later adopted by a police officer and wishes to become a true patriot. Apart from Aayush Sharma, Ruslaan features Sushrii Mishraa, who marked her Bollywood debut with the film.
Ruslaan marks Aayush Sharma's first film outside the SKF banner owned by his brother-in-law Salman Khan. The actor marked his Bollywood debut back in 2018 with Loveratri. Later in 2021, Aayush Sharma shared the screen space with Salman Khan in Antim: The Final Truth. Talking about working outside the SKF banner, Aayush Sharma, during the trailer launch event, said, “If one thinks I was spoiled (by SKF), Karan sir and Radhamohan sir (film's producer) fixed me. When they made me stand bare-chested in minus 6 degrees Celsius weather in Azerbaijan, the spoiled brat in me vanished (laughs)...But honestly, it was neither my intention nor my family's intention that I'll only do films with the family. I am an actor first, I am hungry. I would like to do as many good films as I can. It doesn't matter who is producing the film, I would love to work. My journey has just begun and I don't think I have the liberty to stay in a comfort zone.”
In an NDTV review, film critic Saibal Chatterjee gave Ruslaan 1.5 out of 5 stars and said, “The biggest problem with films like Ruslaan is that they never have anything that could allow the audience to feel that they are watching it for the first time. The lack of novelty and the bordering-on-the-bombastic dialogues give the film a core that is so vacuous that it can hold nothing at all. To be fair, Aayush Sharma spares no effort to pull off the action sequences - the performance bears strays signs that he is evolving as an actor - but he is still found significantly wanting in terms of emoting prowess.”
“He is especially shown up in the presence of Jagapathi Babu, who pulls his histrionic weight to far greater effect despite being saddled with unconvincing situations and lines. The other actors in the cast are painted into a corner from where they have no chance of escaping.” Saibal Chatterjee added.
Ruslaan also features Vidya Malvade, Sangay Tsheltrim, Jagapathi Babu, and Manish Gaharwar in key roles. The film has been produced under KK Radhamohan's Sri Sathya Sai Arts.