'Adipurush' in trouble; wrong depiction of deities, MP minister threatens legal action

‘Tanhaji’ director Om Raut’s new film, ‘Adipurush’, inspired by the Ramayana epic, is making news for all the wrong reasons.

After the film’s teaser was released, it was slammed on social media for its poor quality VFX and for the look of Saif Ali Khan’s Ravana. Netizens felt that he looked more like Alauddin Khilji or Taimur and also hit out at the ugly fantasy creature that Saif as Ravana was riding on. Calling out ‘Adipurush’, which will release in January 2023, as a ‘mockery of the Ramayana, our culture, gods and history”, they said that the film has been made like a “cartoonish and Islamic”. #DissapointingAdipurush started to trend on Twitter.

Predictably, there have been calls to ban this Bollywood movie.

THIS IS HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING 😑
A 500cr Cartoon movie 🙄
and that disgusting Ravana Look!#Prabhas could have carried that #Bahubali look rather than this animated Joke!#OmRaut #AdipurushMegaTeaserLaunch #cartoonmovie #dissapointed #DisappointingAdipurish #PRABHAS pic.twitter.com/p7fo3lpdG9

— Himanshu Ahlawat (@HimanshuAhlawa1) October 2, 2022

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‘Adipurush’ stars Bollywood actor Prabhas as Raghava, Kriti Sanon as Janaki, and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh, based on Lord Rama, Goddess Sita, and Ravana respectively.

One social media user wrote about Saif’s character, “I mean seriously!!! Are they going to change the name of Ravan to Rizwan?? Who is styling his beard?? Jawed Habib??”

Am I the only one who thinks Saif looks more like an IsIamic invαժer than Ravan in #Adipurush? pic.twitter.com/KdBHfy0Njt

— BHK🇮🇳 (@BeingBHK) October 2, 2022

Legal trouble possible for Adipurush

Meanwhile the film may run into legal trouble as well. For Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra has threatened legal action against the Om Raut directorial and accused the makers of depicting Hindu deities wrongly. The spokesperson of the Madhya Pradesh government, told reporters that he particularly objected to the wrongly depicted version of Lord Hanuman in the film.

“I have seen the trailer of Adipurush. There are objectionable scenes in it. The dresses and look of Hindu deities as seen in the trailer were not acceptable. Hanuman ji is shown wearing leather, whereas the description (in the scriptures) of the deity’s costume is different…”, he said, adding that these are scenes that hurt “religious sentiments”.

“I am writing a letter to Om Raut to remove all such scenes from the film. If not removed, we will consider legal action,” warned Mishra. He also cited a religious text in support of his claims, noting the devotional hymn Hanuman Chalisa describes the attire of the deity which is different than what is shown in the film.

BJP spokesperson Malavika Avinash too objected to the ‘Adipurush’ teaser. She felt the director had not researched Valmiki’s Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana or Tulsidasa’s Ramayana, or many interpretations of ‘Ramayana’. “The least he could have done is research our own films; there are so many Kannada films, Telugu films, Tamil films, which show how Raavana looked,” said Avinash.

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Disheartened not surprised: Om Raut

Meanwhile, the director Om Raut said he was “disheartened” but not surprised because the film is made for a larger medium – the big screen. He told reporters that its resolution can be adjusted to an extent but cannot be fitted on a mobile screen.

“Given a choice, I would not have released ‘Adipurush”s teaser on YouTube, but this is a necessary thing in our times. Today’s generation watches global movies like Marvel’s Superman and Spiderman and thus it is necessary to talk to them in today’s language and idiom,” he added.

‘Adipurush’ is slated to release on January 12, 2023 in IMAX and 3D and is said to be one of the most expensive films made in Bollywood.