- Date of Release: 16 June 2023
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
- Language: Hindi, Telugu
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Adipurush
Introduction
The weekend biggie is here but do expect some fireworks! With that, I finished watching the new Hindi film Adipurush which has been in the news ever since its first teaser was out. It was last year in October wherein the makers had decided to release the teaser of Adipurush on the ocassion of Ram Navami. A recreation of the epic Ramayana with Prabhas playing Lord Ram was indeed a sure shot success formula. I mean what could possibly go wrong? The makers too may have been under the same impression but the first teaser had the people attacking the product for its substandard and cartoonish VFX. So much so that the makers had to do a rear guard action of saying that the teaser was designed for the Big screen and that the teaser will not have a similar impact as your smaller cell phones. But the noise was such(including FIRs against the filmmaker) that Adipurush which was originally scheduled for release in January was pushed back!
Now we all know by now that a lot is riding on a product like Adipurush. Almost 500 cr then and an additional 200 cr post the delay. So when the first trailer of Adipurush was out, I did see some hope in the eyes of the public although deep down I knew that the VFX were beyond repair, given how such an epic saga was shot entirely in a studio! But the music of the film along with its ‘Jai Shree Ram’ BGM was powerful and the creative decision to dub Prabhas’ original voice with Sharad Kelkar’s voice seemed like a good creative decision. Also Raavan’s look was smartly kept under wraps. This until its final trailer was out that seemed so dark that I knew the film was doomed. With much fear and skepticism around, I ventured into Adipurush with a blank slate and an open mind(while the negative word of mouth had already begun with memers having a field day), with my expectation being that Adipurush will atleast respect the original source material. Does Adipurush deliver, lets find out.
Story & Screenplay
As we all know, Adipurush is the recreation of the epic saga, The Ramayana wherein Lord Ram had managed to overcome Raavan in a battle for the ages. We all have grown up watching Ramanand Sagar’s rendition of the Ramayana. And there was a reason for that – there was no false bravado and the representation of the characters were so beautifully portrayed. I remember that I enjoyed watching it again during the first lockdown. But here the makers were caught in a dilemma from the writing stand point itself! Should this have been a modern interpretation or recreating the age old era that we are privy to. And the makers in the most ridiculous creative decision, combined the two thus leading to chaos. The screenplay is close to 3 hours but despite the length of the drama, some important chapters from the Ramayana have been skipped! I was prepared for the VFX being bad but I wasn’t prepared for the writing to be this bad.
The basic foundation of the Ramayana was Kaikeyi wanting her son Bharat to take the throne thus leading to Lord Ram going for a ‘Vanvas’ for 14 years along with Sita and Lord Lakshman. This was the crux of the foundation that just hasn’t been setup at all, skimming through the events in the form of some substandard animated scenes. I would still have let that pass if the character traits were well defined. But here the drama itself is soulless and does such a huge disservice to the Ramayana and Lord Ram that even the not so religious people like me would feel offended. Lord Ram is shown to be aggressive as opposed to the calm demeanor that he was known for. Lord Lakshman is reduced to being a side-kick, Lord Hanuman being reduced to a caricature with unnecessary humour infused in his character(was it required????), Raavana, who was a Shiv Bhakt(a scene involves him breaking the Shiv Maala, ridiculous) is shown to have a funky hairstyle, playing a sitar like a guitar and residing in a dark palace that is straight up inspired from The Game Of Thrones. What on earth is going on???
The proceedings oscillate between the real life visuals and the live animation visuals that are a cross breed of The Jungle Book and The Planet Of The Apes. Seriously?? This is the holy Vanar sena that you are talking about! Some sort of respect was needed in their portrayal. Elsewhere, an important character of Jataayu who was instrumental in laying down its life while trying to save Sita from Raavan, and also communicating to Lord Ram about Raavan and his kidnapping of Sita, is reduced to an animated figure here. How could you? Even if you did, why not do it well! With scene after scene, I was infuriated to no bounds. Did the makers not know what subject were they dealing with? Where was the research, where was the understanding of the scriptures? Why was Ramayana reduced to a 3 hour TikTok video?
One of the highlights from the film that I genuinely did like and appreciate was Lord Ram and the Vanar Sena building the Setu and crossing it that evoke the right kind of sentiments. This was done well with ‘Jai Shree Ram’ playing in the background that did give me goosebumps. But on either side, the drama falls flat. Speaking a little about the other characters – Indrajith, the son of Raavana almost seemed like a tattoo artist. Even there are scenes involving Vibhishan, the brother of Raavana, sharing a drink with him. Seriously? He was a Ram Bhakt himself and this scene was representative on how far the makers had gone while missing the point of the scripture. Elsewhere, the battle between Sugriva and Vali was straight out of a video game and the less I speak about it the better.
The final fight sequence was just too cartoonish and the purity and the holy vibes of Lord Ram were replaced with a more aggressive vibe of Bahubali. The sequence is stretched and the scenes that should have given a high is outright laughable. This sums up the screenplay which may have emerged from the fact that audience would lap up anything in the name of Lord Ram and any criticism would be met with a ‘Boycott’. This is the most ridiculous representation of the Ramayana which has infuriated me to no bounds.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
Oh boy! If you thought that the VFX was the frontrunner for the worst aspect of the film, the dialogues do give it a run for its money. Some of the most cringe-worthy dialogues make its way in the film. Likes of ‘Yeh toh fisaddi nikla’, ‘Tera Baap…Mera Baap’ will further infuriate you. In fact, the writers try to infuse nationalism in the drama with lines like ‘Bharat Ki Beti’. Arre bhai, what are you trying to do? Was there a concept of Bharat(leave alone Sita being from Nepal which was formed much later) in that era? Or were they kingdoms only? Some lines aee straight out of the Hindi film Gunda with lines like ‘Lamba Kar Diya’. Tch tch!
One of the strongest parts of the film is the music which does try and evoke the sentiments. While the songs are good, I didn’t quite like how the love song between Lord Ram and Sita was shot like a romantic Bollywood number. It wasn’t right or appropriate as far as I was concerned(and I am as liberal as possible if I may say so myself as far as cinema is concerned). This would have worked had this bern a modern adaptation but surely not when you are recreating it. The BGM is rousing and does its job in trying to enhance the drama. The cinematography is ridiculously bad backed by poor VFX that is probably the worst that I have seen in a long time! In fact, I did not seen much change here apart from making things darker to prevent the viewers from spotting the shortcomings. The 6 month delay may have been to wait until the noise dies down! Director Om Raut needs to be held up for this mess. The fall from Tanhaji has been steep and here is a learning – do not be overconfident about the subject thinking audience will lap up any sh*t. This epic saga needed vision and sensitivity, both of which were missing and how! Do not take the viewers for granted, not today, not tomorrow, not in the future!
Performances
This was probably the best case for a miscast in a high budget film! And not sure what the brief was to the characters as none of them really stand out. Of all the actors only Saif Ali Khan as Raavan amd Kriti Sanon as Janki stand out as atleast they try and make an effort to stay true to the character traits(although the characterization of Saif is an issue in itself). Vatsal Seth as Indrajith isn’t great and it may have to do more with the brief given to him regarding his own inputs to his character.
Devdutta Nage as Lord Hanuman is reduced to a caricature and all the gimmicks of a seat being reserved to honour his presence just was heartbreaking, especially when the makers haven’t taken care about his portrayal in the film. This is Pawan Putra Hanumanji that we are talking about for God sake! Sunny Singh as Lakshman doesn’t have the assurity in his performance, it was quite loose and indifferent. Prabhas as Lord Ram is a complete miscast. He would have done well as Raavana given his demeanor. You needed a softer and calmer looking actor like Arun Govil who had immortalized the character. With zero expressions, even his performance was flat and a complete washout.
Conclusion
Adipurush is an epic misfire that reduces the epic Ramayana to a 3 hour Tiktok video by making it a cross breed between The Game Of Thrones and The Planet Of The Apes. Undoubtedly, this is disservice to the epic saga, Lord Ram and the audience in what was an infuriating watch. Avoid! Available in a theatre near you.