'Adipurush' Controversy: Arun Govil, Sunil Lahri, and Ramanand Sagar's son Prem have reacted to the way the Ramayana was re-told in the Prabhas-starrer
Adipurush still
Om Raut-directed Adipurush was one of the most anticipated film of the year. Touted to be a retelling of the Ramayana, the film stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Sita, Sunny Singh as Laxman, and Saif Ali Khan as Raavan. However, the film opened to largely negative reviews with fans taking to social media to express disappointment in the quality of the film. The VFX, storytelling and dialogues were bashed by the audience. The dialogues mouthed by Hanuman's character was called as 'cringe' , forcing makers to revamp the dialogues.
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It is not only the layman who dismissed the film, but celebrities also expressed their disappointment in the film. Actors from Ramanand Sagar's epic TV show Ramayana also expressed their displeasure in the film.
Arun Govil
The actor who played Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's version of Ramayan told India Today, "I have not seen the film, but whatever I have heard, there are a few very controversial lines and I feel it's not up to the mark."
Among the many controversial dialogues, Lord Hanuman is heard saying, "Kapda tere baap, tel tere baap ka, aag bhi tere baap ki. Jalegi bhi tere baap ki".
"Lord Hanuman, we worship him, he is our god, and god talking in this language is not done. I don't think it should have been there," Govil said.
"But whatever damage is created, it's done. So, it's not going to be like that they remove the dialogue and people will then go to the cinemas. It should not have been there. From the names like Lord Ram, Hanuman, and Sita, we worship them and if something goes lower their standard, it's not done. In our Ramayan, every dialogue was very good," he said reacting to the makers changing the dialogues.
Govil also reacted to Prabhas playing Lord Ram and said, "Prabhas' image is not of a lord. His image is like a star and he has made it very well. Either the makers should have worked really hard on his looks or whatever. I would not like to say that he has not done very well or the other actors have not done well. But, what about their looks? The makers and creatives should have done a lot of work which I think is lacking in this movie. When we see anything, it's the looks. If the looks are correct, half of the battle is won. The looks have created a whole lot of problems here in the film."
Prem Sagar
Ramanand Sagar's son Prem Sagar while talking to Live Hindustan said, "Om Raut has tried to create Marvel via Adipurush. Dad too had used creative freedom while making Ramayan but he understood Lord Ram. He made small changes after reading many books. But he never tried to tamper with the facts"
"If you have made today's Ramayan then show it in Breach Candy, Colaba. Don't release it worldwide. Don't hurt people's sentiments. Many people wrote Ramayan including Krittivasi, Eknath. But no one changed the content. They only changed colour and language. But here entire fact has been changed).
Sunil Lahri:
The actor who played Laxman told in a video in Hindi, "I had high expectations from Adipurush that I will get to see something different but it is very disappointing. You can’t play with your culture in the name of doing something different, especially those who are our own. The characters are not defined. The audience doesn’t find any emotional attachment with the scenes. In fact the dialogues are also very bekaar (poor).”
"I thought Om Raut is a sensible director. He had all things available. It looks like the director is very confused. I don’t know why he made the film.”
“Ravan was the king of the most beautiful country. I don’t know why they have shown him beating iron. He was the King of Trilok. Why was there a need to bring a fake Sita in the film? If they had told the story in a simple way, things would have been different. All the characters looked confused to me,” he added.
Ramanand Sagar created, wrote, and directed the epic TV show, Ramayan. It originally aired between 1987-88. During its run, the show became the most-watched television series in the world.
Actor Mukesh Khanna, who is well known for his role as Shaktimaan and Bhishma in Mahabharat also expressed his displeasure in the way the film turned out. "I usually do not talk about films, but this is related to my faith. I have read the reactions of people. One person, today's youth, said 'mazaa aya, comedy tha accha (It was fun, comedy film)'. I was like 'How can Ramayan be comedy?' So I decided to take a look, and when I researched, I realised isase bada bhayanak tamasha nahi ho sakta, isase bada apmaan nahi ho sakta humare Ramayan ka (There can be no worse drama than the film and no bigger insult to Ramayan than Adipurush).”
He also called out the makers for casting Saif Ali Khan as Raavan. “Om Raut ko Raavan ke liye sirf Saif Ali Khan mila? Isase uncha character industry me rah nahi gaya kya? Raavan kaddavar tha, isko jugaad se banaya. Raavan kam sasta smuggler zyada dikhta hai (Couldn't Om Raut find a better actor than Saif Ali Khan? This one looks less like Raavan and more like a cheap smuggler).”
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