'Adipurush' makers to revise script after backlash over ‘pedestrian’ dialogues

After facing flak for “pedestrian” dialogues that allegedly trivialised the popular characters of Ramayana, the makers of Prabhas-starrer Adipurush have decided to revise parts of the script.

The film’s dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla on Sunday said the makers have decided to “revise some of the dialogues” and the amended lines will be added to the film by this week.

Also read: ‘Adipurush’ records bumper opening; Rs 140 cr global collection in 1 day

“…For me there is nothing greater than your feelings. I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not lessen your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that we will revise some of the dialogues which are hurting you and they will be added to the film this week,” Shukla said in a statement shared on his official Twitter account.

The mythological epic film, which was released across the country in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil on Friday, stars Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan). Directed by Om Raut and produced by T-Series, the big-budget multilingual saga has been panned on social media over its poor VFX and colloquial dialogues, with Shukla under fire for Lord Hanuman’s dialogues in the Lanka Dahan sequence, among others.

Many viewers and political party leaders pointed out the oversimplified language used by the characters, especially Bajrang (Hanuman) played by Devdatta Nage. In his statement, which he wrote in Hindi, Shukla said it is possible that in a three-hour film he may have written “something different from your imagination for 3 minutes of duration”, but viewers shouldn’t hurry to label him as a “Sanatan drohi“.

Also read: ‘Adipurush’ makers slammed for substandard VFX, cringey dialogues; PIL filed in Delhi HC

“The first lesson one can learn from Ramkatha is to respect every emotion. What is right or wrong changes with time, but the feeling is constant. “I wrote more than 4,000 lines as dialogues in Adipurush, some sentiments got hurt on five of those lines. In those hundreds of lines, where Shri Ram was glorified, Maa Sita’s chastity was described, I was hoping to receive praise for them, which I don’t know why I did not get,” he added.

The writer-lyricist, who won the National Film Award for best lyrics in Saina, said he had no complaints with the audience. “If we stand against each other, Sanatan will lose. “We have made Adipurush for Sanatan Seva, it’s a film which you are watching in large numbers and I believe you will watch in future as well,” he said. Mounted on a reported budget of ₹500 crore, Adipurush has raised ₹240 crore in two days, the makers claimed.

Also read: Adipurush review: A flat retelling of India’s most famous epic; only Ravana roars

(With inputs from agencies)