Paresh Rawal’s controversial courtroom drama The Taj Story released in theatres on October 31, sparking debate over its subject matter. The film is based on a right-wing conspiracy theory that claims the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple before being converted into a tomb by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. ‘The Taj Story’: Delhi High Court Declines Urgent Hearing on PIL Against Paresh Rawal’s Film.

Written and directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, the film also stars Zakir Hussain, Amruta Khanvilkar, Namit Das, and Sneha Wagh. Despite being pitted against Baahubali: The Epic, which dominated both screens and audience attention, The Taj Story has managed a modest start at the box office.

'The Taj Story' - First Weekend Performance

According to Sacnilk, The Taj Story collected INR 6.8 crore nett in India over its opening weekend, a respectable figure considering its limited release and the wave of negative reviews it received.

Watch the Trailer of 'The Taj Story':

However, with a reported budget of INR 25 crore, the film would need to gross around INR 62.5 crore to break even. Reaching that mark looks increasingly difficult, especially as audience word-of-mouth has been lukewarm, even among its target demographic.

Poor Performances For Political Propaganda Films in 2025

Following the box office success of The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story, Bollywood saw a rise in political and religious propaganda films attempting to replicate their formula. However, most of these alleged Islamophobic narratives have failed to find takers in 2025.

One exception is Chhaava, which, despite facing criticism for its skewed depiction of history, managed to disguise its political undertones under the garb of a historical war epic. The film went on to become the second-highest-grossing Indian film of 2025 (after Kantara Chapter 1) and the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, earning INR 807.91 crore. What Is ‘Chhaava’ Movie Age Rating? Videos of Kids From Theatres Watching Vicky Kaushal’s Film Go Viral – Are Children Allowed To Watch U/A 16+ Rated Movies?

The others, who proudly wore the anti-Muslim sentiment badge on their sleeve, failed to do much at the box office, with all of them failing. This also includes Vivek Agnihotri's new film The Bengal Files, which had raised much controversy and headlines over its curbed release in West Bengal, but the movie was pretty mediocre in the rest of India.

Worldwide Collections of Alleged Propagandistic Bollywood Films of 2025

Emergency - INR 23.81 Crore - Flop

Chhaava - INR 807.91 Crore - Blockbuster

Kesari Veer - INR 0.62 Crore - Flop

Udaipur Files - INR 0.63 Crore - Flop

The Bengal Files - INR 23.44 Crore - Flop

Ajey: The Untold Story of a Yogi - INR 1.50 Crore - Flop

While The Taj Story has performed better than the lifetime collections of some of the films mentioned in the above list, it still needs to do a lot better to earn the hit status. Considering even its targeted audience has not been wowed by the film, that would be a considerable challenge indeed.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 03, 2025 11:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).