Adipurush

Development

Adipurush, an adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana, was announced on 18 August 2020, via a promotional poster. Prabhas portrays Rama under the direction of Om Raut who earlier helmed the period action film Tanhaji (2020).^[22] Om Raut was fascinated by the 1992 Japanese film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama and was motivated to adapt the Ramayana into a film using modern technology. Raut wrote the script amidst COVID-19 lockdown in India. Prabhas immediately liked the project and the production company T-Series Films was on board for the project.^[9]

Adipurush is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made, with a budget of ₹550-800 crore.^[23][24] The film was initially reported to have a budget of 500-600 crores, however after the release of first teaser, the film was met with severe backlash for the poor quality of VFX and CGI, despite having a humungous budget, which compelled the makers to postpone the film by five months and an additional budget of 100-200 crores was assigned to improve the quality of VFX and CGI.^[25][26] It was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu languages, while also filmed in 3D.^[27]

Casting

In September 2020, the makers revealed that Prabhas is enacting Rama's portrayal whose character name was later revealed as Raghava.^[9] Saif Ali Khan, who already worked as an antagonist in Raut's Tanhaji, signed on for the role of Ravana, with the alias name, Lankesh.^[28] After rumours of Anushka Shetty, Anushka Sharma, Kiara Advani, and Keerthy Suresh being approached for the role of Sita, with the alias name of Janaki, it was reported in November 2020 that Kriti Sanon has been cast to essay the role; her inclusion into the film was confirmed by the makers four months later in March 2021.^[29] Sunny Singh, who joined the sets in February 2021, played Lakshmana, with the alias name being Shesh.^[30] Sharad Kelkar dubbed for Prabhas in the Hindi version while P. Ravi Shankar dubbed for Saif Ali Khan in the Telugu, Tamil and Kannada versions.^[31]

Filming

Motion capture shoot for Adipurush begun on 19 January 2021.^[32] Muhurtam shot and formal launch was done on 2 February 2021 in Mumbai, India.^[33] Principal photography of the movie began that day, as informed by the makers.^[34][35] A massive fire accident took place at the filming location in Mumbai on the same day.^[36] Duplicate sets were erected same wise due to the fire break-out.^[37] In October 2021, Khan and Sanon wrapped up shoot.^[38] On 10 November 2021, the filming was completed.^[39][40]

Theatrical

Adipurush was theatrically released on 16 June 2023^[53] in Hindi and Telugu, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam.^[54] It was previously scheduled to release on 11 August 2022, but was later postponed due to the release of Laal Singh Chaddha. The film was postponed again to avoid a clash with Veera Simha Reddy and Waltair Veerayya and also to rework the visual effects, due to the severe backlash after the release of the teaser trailer.^[55][56][57]

The film was initially reported to have a budget of 500-600 crores, making it one of the most expensive Indian films ever made, however after the release of first teaser, the film was met with severe backlash for the poor quality of VFX and CGI, despite having a humungous budget, which compelled the makers to postpone the film by five months and an additional budget of 100-200 crores was assigned to improve the quality of VFX and CGI.^[25][26]

The film was set to premiere at the Tribeca Festival in the Escape From Tribeca section on 13 June 2023,^[58] but was cancelled by the makers later. The film was supposed to be played at the Film Festival on 15 and 17 June, but its world premiere, 3 days before the world release had been put down.^[17]

The film was also initially scheduled for an IMAX release, which was cancelled later due to the simultaneous release and advance booking of screens for The Flash; the IMAX rulebook does not allow two IMAX films to release on the same day.^[59]

The film was initially stopped from release in Nepal citing an issue with a specific dialogue in the film where Goddess Janaki is referred to as the "daughter of India". The controversial dialogue was later removed from the film as per the media reports. Vedic records show Goddess Sita was born in Mithila but the site is controversial. Indians believe that Goddess Sita was born in part of Mithila which falls in India, the present day Sitamarhi in Bihar. Where as Nepalese believe that Goddess Sita was born in part of Mithila which falls in Nepal, the present day Janakpur in Madhesh Province.^[60][61] This further resulted in all Indian films being banned from releasing in the Kathmandu Metropolitan area.^[62]

Home media

The film was premiered on Netflix from 11 August 2023 in Hindi. The film was also premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 11 August 2023 in Telugu and dubbed versions of Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages.^[63][64]

Game

Epic Quiz : Adipurush, a quiz and adventure mobile video game was developed by Hungama Games as a tie-in release for the film.^[65]

Box office

After a strong opening weekend, Adipurush had a sharp decline in collections on Monday,^[66] and dropped further on Tuesday.^[67] After 14 days of release, News18 Telugu reported that the film has collected a total worldwide gross of ₹388.35 crore, with a distributors' share of ₹191.42 crore.^[68] Although the production team announced that the film has grossed ₹450 crore worldwide, the trade figures were differed with News18 Telugu reporting that the film has not even grossed more than ₹300 crore in India.^[69]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 7% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10.^[70]

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave Adipurush 1.5/5, criticising the screenplay and visuals, and described the film as "a series of clunky computer graphics, bathed in Bollywoodese."^[71] She later named the film as the 2nd-worst film of 2023.^[72] Awarding the same rating, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV called the film a "weird blend of fantasy and fallacy".^[73] Rediff.com's Deepa Gahlot dismissed it as a "travesty", and criticised the dialogues and the visual effects.^[74] Likewise, Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com criticised the writing and visuals of the film, saying "...it all looks cheap and uninspired."^[75]

Scroll.in's Nandini Ramnath wrote that the adaptation "lacks [...] a sense of wonderment."^[76]

Bollywood Hungama found Adipurush to be a "well-made entertainer with a big-screen appeal".^[77] Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing "This one's a sincere attempt that gets a tad overwhelmed by its ambition of handling a story of this magnitude".^[78] In a mixed review, Anindita Mukherjee of India Today stated that "All in all, we can't put a stamp on all the hype that Adipurush has been gathering, but it surely deserves one watch at the theatres. For Prabhas, if nothing else".^[79] India Today later included the film as one of the five worst Hindi films of 2023.^[80]

Allahabad High Court on Adipurush

The Allahabad High Court criticised the filmmakers for portraying religious characters (including Rama and Hanuman) in an objectionable manner and characterised the film as testing the tolerance of Hindus.

The Court also noted that all the characters of the Ramayana, who are worshipped by Hindus, are largely shown in a "pathetic way". The Court inquired as to what made the Central Board of Film Certification pass such a film, stating that the CBFC committed a "blunder" by certifying it.^[81][82]

Public Interest Litigation was filed on 23 June 2023, seeking to stop broadcast of the film on streaming platforms.^[83] The petition alleges that the film hurts the religious sentiments of a "large section of society" due to the dialogue used by the characters in the film.^[84]

Reactions after the teaser release

Right after the teaser was released in October 2022, the makers were criticised for its poor VFX, provided Saif Ali Khan's look as Ravana with a beard made social media users question if he was playing Ravana, Babur or Alauddin Khalji in the film. BJP spokesperson Malavika Avinash criticised Om Raut for 'misrepresentation' of Ramayana, depicting Raavana with "blue eye makeup and is wearing leather jackets".^[85] Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra criticised the teaser with comments on Hanuman's look in the film and stated to write a letter to Om Raut to remove all such scenes from the film. If not removed, he will consider legal action.^[86] Actor Arun Mandola also stated his views as director (Raut) failed to understand the Indian audience and accused the makers for copying scenes from Game of Thrones, Planet of the Apes and The Jungle Book.^[87] Prem Sagar, son of director Ramanand Sagar also criticised the teaser, stating if the project was offered, he would have rejected due to "his upbringing and culture". He further added, "How can you stop anyone from creating anything?".^[88] Actress Dipika Chikhlia, who portrayed Sita on Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan also criticised the teaser, stating she did not approve the VFX and there has been altercations to the epic.^[89] Actor Sunil Lahri, who played Lakshman in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, commented in lieu of the VFX and its depiction, that nonsense in the name of religion will never be tolerated.^[90]

Amidst the controversy, director Om Raut defended the teaser and kept his views that he was unhappy with the reactions from audiences and other celebrities for criticising the teasers and story and stated its not made for cellphones.^[91][92] Actress Kriti Sanon also defended the teasers, stating, "that the film is not just about the teaser but there is a lot more to it."^[93] After the criticism, the makers asked for some time for improving the VFX and its quality, which may cost an additional ₹100 crore, as per reports.^[94][95]

Reactions on the film's posters

Aftermath of the teaser controversy, it was stated that the film's poster was also copied from an animation firm Vaanar Sena Studios and they claimed that they were not given any credit for the same.^[96] Also the studio claimed that the poster of Adipurush was a direct rip-off of their animated film Lord Shiva.^[97]

In March 2023, a new poster was released, which created another controversy. The new poster was criticised for looking like an "animated film".^[98] Another poster was also criticised for hurting the religious sentiments as according to the Ramcharitmanas, all the characters of the Ramayana wear a sacred thread called Janeu, which is worn by those who follow the Hindu religion, however in the posters it was not worn by the characters played by Prabhas, Sunny Singh and Devdatta Nage.^[99][100]

Dialogues of Adipurush

Manoj Muntashir wrote the dialogues of Om Raut's film Adipurush. The dialogues of the film were criticised for being too flippant or unserious and containing modern-day slang and lingo in a medieval setting. Lines like "jalegī tere bāp kī", "terī buā kā baghīcā hai kyā", and "Laṅkā lagā deṁge" being uttered by gods did not go down well with a large section of the viewers as the whole story of the film has destroyed and modified every aspect of the core values of the characters, their language and each authentic event. The petition filled in the high court demanded that the film malign the image of deities by using foul language in the dialogues spoken by the actors portraying Hindu gods. "They cannot be allowed to go scot-free in the name of Freedom of Speech and Expression."^[101][84]

Prem Sagar, son of director Ramanand Sagar, said, "It might be a misjudgement that the younger generation would like it. But you can't do this with the audience. Don't say it is based on Valmiki Ramayan, give it any other name. Make it a fantasy film. But if you're making Ramayan then you cannot hurt the sentiments. People watch this with devotion".^[102] His brother, Moti Sagar, too felt that the makers could have been more 'careful' in their approach towards the epic. "Certain dialogues, which I am reading on the news and on Twitter, I can say they could have been careful," he told PTI.^[103]

One of the lines in the film, which refers to Sita as "Bhārata kī beṭī", has caused anger among the people of Nepal. This is because Sita is believed to have been born in Janakpur, which is located in present-day Nepal. Although the filmmakers agreed to remove that particular dialogue from the film, another inaccurate statement about the sovereignty of Nepal has further infuriated the Nepalese people. In an interview on Aaj Tak, Manoj attempted to dismiss the claims of the Nepalese people by incorrectly stating that Nepal was a part of "Bharat" until 1904^[104] and mentioned that it separated from "Bharat". Manoj has been accused of misrepresenting historical facts, leading to calls for a ban on all Hindi films in Nepal.^[105]

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi criticised the makers for allegedly using "pedestrian dialogues" in the film. She also demanded an apology from the film's makers and said that the dialogues were disrespectful to the characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana.^[106] Similarly, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel alleged that dialogues in the film are "objectionable and indecent" and questioned the "silence" of political parties which call themselves the custodian of religion, an apparent jibe at the BJP. When asked by reporters whether the state government will ban this film, Baghel said, "The government will think about it (ban) if people will raise a demand in this direction".^[107]

Responding to the criticism, Manoj Muntashir defended his work. In an interview with Republic World, he said, "It is not an error. It is a very meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogues for Bajrangabali and for all the characters. We have made it simple because we have to understand one thing if there are multiple characters in a film, all cannot speak the same language. There has to be a kind of diversion, a kind of division."

Muntashir also mentioned, "When our grandmothers narrated the tales of Ramayana, they used this language. The dialogue that you mentioned, priests and narrators used to say that in the same way I have written. I'm not the first one to write this dialogue, it's already there."^[108][109]

However, later he announced that it had been decided that some lines of the dialogue in the film would be altered. In a statement on Twitter, he concluded, "I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not reduce your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that some of the dialogues which are hurting you, We'll revise them, and they'll be added to the film this week. May Shri Ram bless you all!"^[110]

Backtracking and making contradictory statements

In a video, which went viral on social media, Muntashir said: "If people think we are trying to modernise the Ramayan, I want to tell them that not at all. We have presented the Ramayan just like how people heard in stories during their childhood." In a more recent interview, he said, "The film's name is Adipurush. We have not made the Ramayan; we are just inspired by it," he said.^[111]

Claiming that Hanuman is 'not a god'

In another interview with Aaj Tak, Muntashir said, "Lord Hanuman is not God but a mere devotee. We made him God because his devotion had that power."^[112] This statement led to a political slugfest, where the AAP and Congress attacked the governing BJP for "blessing" the film whose makers don't consider Bajrangbali as God.^[113]

While the Shiva Purana specifically refers to Hanuman as an 'incarnation' of Shiva, other Puranas and scriptures provide alternative perspectives. According to these sources, Bajrangbali is commonly regarded as the spiritual son of Vayu, the deity of wind, or as an incarnation of Vayu himself. In some instances, Hanuman is also identified as an avatar of Rudra, another name associated with Shiva.^[114]

Apology

In 2026, Muntashir eventually admitted that working on the film was a mistake, and defending it after the backlash only made matters worse. Taking the complete blame, he sought forgiveness from the people of the country. He further added that looking back, he felt ashamed that he wrote those particular dialogues and didn't know what state of mind he was in while writing them. He maintained that the criticism over the film's dialogues was justified and accepted responsibility for the writing.^[115]

Ban in Nepal

After the release of the film, a dialogue in the film referring to Sita as the "daughter of India" created a controversy in Nepal. The Mayor of Kathmandu, Balen Shah banned the film, stating that the birthplace of Sita was shown in the film as being in India rather than Nepal.^[116][117] After the film was banned in Kathmandu, the film was also banned in Pokhara. Police personnel were deployed across 17 halls in Kathmandu to ensure that no Hindi film was screened, as the dialogues in the film remained unchanged.^[118]

However, a court in Nepal lifted the ban on Hindi films in various regions of the country. The court asked the authorities to not halt the screening of Hindi films including Adipurush in the cinemas of Nepal. The judgment was not taken well by Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, who first imposed the ban. He said that he is ready to face any punishment but will not allow the screening of the film.^[119]

FIR

On 18 June 2023, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha lodged an FIR with the Hazratganj police against the producers and cast. In his complaint, Hindu Mahasabha national spokesperson Chaturvedi said that the film was a deliberate attempt to insult Hindu sentiments by distorting the images of Hindu gods with offensive dialogues, and costumes.^[120][121]