India
Oi-Madhuri Adnal
The much-awaited film Adipurush, a film based on the Hindu epic Ramayana, releases on June 16, 2023.
Directed by Om Raut and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Om Raut, and Prasad Sutar, the film stars Prabhas as Ram, Kriti Sanon as Sita, Saif Ali Khan as Ravana, and Sunny Singh as Lakshman.
Here is a detailed account of the controversies surrounding the film:
Controversial portrayal of Lord Rama in ‘Adipurush’
This film has been in controversies since its inception. In 2021, the film’s teaser was met with criticism from some Hindu groups, who objected to the depiction of Lord Rama and other characters. He alleged that the film was wrong and inappropriate and would hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
The controversy intensified in 2022, when the film’s poster was released. The poster shows Prabhas Ram wearing a crown and holding a bow and arrow. This drew further criticism from Hindu groups, who argued that the crown was not part of Rama’s traditional attire and that it made him resemble a “king” rather than a “god”. In response to the controversy, the makers of the film have said that they have made changes to the film to address the concerns of Hindu groups. However, the controversy has continued, and calls have been made to ban the film.
‘Adipurush’ Day 1 box office collection: Here’s how much it is predicted to collect on opening day
hanuman seat dispute
At the time of the trailer launch, the director had announced that a seat would be reserved for Lord Hanuman at every screening. There were also unverified reports of a man being thrashed for sitting on a seat reserved for Lord Hanuman.
A man was attacked by Prabhas fans for sitting on the seat allotted to Lord Hanuman at Brahmarambh Theater in Hyderabad early this morning. (audio muted due to abusive language)#Radiance
pic.twitter.com/2dkUhQFNVi
— Karthik Naga (@karteeknaaga)
June 16, 2023
Shoddy VFX and ‘Tapori’ style dialogues
The film also faced criticism for the quality of its VFX and ‘tapori’ style dialogues spoken by the actor playing Lord Hanuman. Critics were more severe in judging the film, calling it a hot-pot of films past.
‘Adipurush’ dialogue
In Nepal, cinema halls in Kathmandu stopped screenings after a controversy over a dialogue referring to Janaki as India’s daughter, stalling the film’s release. According to mythology, Sita was born in Janakpur, which is located in Nepal. Kathmandu city mayor Balendra Shah asked the makers to rectify the mistake regarding Sita’s birthplace. “Until the line ‘Janaki Bharat ki beti hai’ contained in the South Indian film ‘Adipurush’ is removed not only in Nepal but also in India, no Hindi film will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (sic) Will go,” Mayor Shah wrote on Facebook on Thursday. The Film Certification Board of Nepal also said that the permission to show the film in theaters will be given only when the dialogue that says ‘Sita is the daughter of India’ will be changed.
On one hand, there are those who believe that the film is a harmless interpretation of the Ramayana and should be allowed to release. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the film is disrespectful to Hindu religious beliefs and should not be released.
The multilingual Tamasha, produced by T-Series, released across the country in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil languages. Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, Adipurush has a budget of Rs 500 crore. The makers claimed that the film collected Rs 140 crore on the first day of its release on Friday.