Indian stars Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan recently came together to present their dramatic re-telling of popular Hindu poet, Valmiki’s Ramayana. Adipurush, which was released last week in India, has been the butt of the joke among fans and critics. Terming it as one of the most despicable takes on Valmiki’s work, the Om Raut directorial has been ridiculed by many.
The film sees Prabhas as Raghava (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan). Even though Adipurush has crossed a magnificent INR3 billion globally, the film remains under fire for several reasons. So much so, that the Nepal government had banned the release of Bollywood films in the country unless the makers of Adipurush correct the ‘mistake’ in their film.
According to The Indian Express, the Mayor of Kathmandu, Balendra Shah, on June 18 ordered all cinema halls in the Nepalese capital to stop screening all Bollywood films. The order came three days after the Mayor gave an ultimatum to the Indian makers of the film, urging them to delete a portion where a dialogue refers to Sita as the “daughter of India”.
“Three days ago we had called upon the makers of Adipurush to remove the objectionable section that shows Janaki as an Indian woman. Defence of Nepal’s sovereignty, independence, and self-respect is the first duty of all Nepalese governments, non-governmental organisations, and Nepalese citizens. No Indian film will be allowed to be screened in the Kathmandu municipality area till the time this objectionable part is removed from the film,” said Shah.
As per The Hindu, Janakpur in Nepal is believed to be the home of the Hindu deity, Sita, where her father King Janak had his kingdom. Because of her roots, Sita is also known as Janaki, the daughter of Janak. The issue has added to the list of disputes that Nepal has had in recent years with India beginning with the Kalapani territorial dispute that the two sides are yet to resolve.
The critics react
However, Adipurush‘s troubles were far from over. While the decision to ‘correct’ Sita’s birth year is still pending, fans who watched the film aren’t mighty impressed as well – neither with the storyline nor the VFX. Many took to social media and laughed over Raut’s attempt at the epic’s rendition.
The Indian Express says Adipurush “reduces Ramayana to the two-dimensional barrage of little feeling.” The review read, “This version of the Ramayana is not interested in connecting with the feeling of genuine religiosity that any reading of the ‘granth’ arouses. This is a beloved epic turned into an actioner, reminding you of a little of The Lord Of The Rings, a bit of Game Of Thrones, and countless films which have computer-generated armies going at each other.”
Hindustan Times‘ review read, “Take a bit of Avengers and Lord of The Rings, add a pinch of Game of Thrones, and top it up with Temple Run — and Adipurush is served. If this is director Om Raut’s best take on the contemporary Ramayana, we need to go back and revisit the original in all its glory, and restore our sanity.”
Call for ban
Irked over the dialogues of the film, saints in Ayodhya have demanded a ban on Prabhas-starrer, reported The Indian Express. They claimed that the film has misrepresented the characters of Ramayana and shown Hindu deities in a ‘distorted’ manner – Hanuman – is shown with a beard and without a moustache. The head priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, Acharya Satyendra Das, said, “The dialogues are shameful and the film should be banned immediately.”
Raju Das, the priest of Hanuman Garhi temple, too sought a ban on the movie. “Bollywood is hell-bent on distorting Hindu religion. The movie ‘Adipurush’ is a classic example of how it is least concerned about Hindu sentiments,” he said.
Petition filed against the film
India’s Hindu Sena, on Friday, filed a writ petition in Delhi High Court against the film, demanding that the film not be certified for public exhibition, The Hindu reported. Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Delhi High Court against Adipurush, shared India Today.
In the writ petition filed in the court, Gupta stated, “This is a writ petition in the shape of public interest litigation under article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of an appropriate writ in the nature of direction to the respondents for removal of objectionable scenes depicting religious leaders /characters/figures in bad taste and issues a writ of mandamus to the respondents directing them to not certify the feature film Adipurush for public exhibition and pass such other or further order as this hon’ble court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”
Director addresses backlash
In an interview with Republic, Raut commented on the negative comments and said that he feels incredibly happy with Adipurush’s box office performance. He said, “What is more important is the type of response that the film is getting at the box office. I’m very happy to say that we are going for an unprecedented number of day one of the global box office.”
The filmmaker also revealed that he made Adipurush from whatever he understood from the Hindu epic. He further stated that no one could understand Ramayana fully. “If I kind of sit down and tell you that I have understood the drama, I think it will be a serious error, because nobody, I feel, has the capacity to understand Ramayana.”
Elaborating his point, Raut said, “Whatever Ramayana that I have understood, whatever little bit you know, it’s like a squirrel’s contribution. That little bit that I have understood of the Ramayana is something that I’ve tried to portray onto celluloid. Ramayana is so large that it is impossible for anybody to understand. If they say that you understand Ramayana, they are fools, or they are lying.” Adipurush also stars Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Vatsal Sheth and Sonal Chauhan in pivotal roles.
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