Adipurush Should Be Banned? Exploring the Modern Ramayana Avatar and Its Controversies

Adipurush Should Be Banned?

Within four days of its release, the movie Adipurush has already set the cyberspace scene ablaze with its numerous controversies. Yes, and what’s more, I agree with them this time, as I have not seen or heard about a retelling worse than this one in my life.

So, with the ongoing debate and the controversies surrounding “Adipurush” talks of a ban are doing the rounds owing to the factually incorrect depiction of this so-called modern re-telling of Ramayan.

A couple of days ago, my sister went to catch up on the movie Adipurush with my 6-year-old nephew. Movie watching was a relatively new experience for my tiny tutu, so naturally, when she came back happily saying that contrary to expectation, he sat pretty engaged and attentive throughout the movie, I was mighty impressed and glad. I thought to myself, “There must have been engagement enough in it for the little one to get so well hooked on to it.”

Wait what?

I just realized something. Having seen its promo, I zoomed back to her and asked her, “But was this movie authentic enough?” That is when she quipped,” No, but I didn’t utter that to you earlier in case our young little “Mr Extendable ears” decides to catch us bickering in action.” In fact, she further elucidated negatively, stating that despite the VFX being touted to be really great, she was personally not at all happy with this re-telling of one of the greatest epics of our heritage, as this was simply not how she wanted him to witness the Ramayana.

In fact, she recoiled and told me in a coy, scandalized undertone about how the language used at many places in the movie was beyond even pedestrian. “How can you possibly show Shri Hanuman, one of the most revered deities in India, in such a manner? Does he speak like a vandal, worse than a street vagabond? Is this how we want our kids to remember and retain the Ramayana, one of the greatest epics of our time? And Ravana? I don’t even have the courage to get there. The way his character has been de-faced, stripped of its dignity and valour I mean, come on, Ravan had a negative side, but not someone as cruel as has been portrayed. He was, in fact, one of the most sacred Brahmins of our era. Is showing him in this light and manner a good idea? Certainly not!!

Well, she made my head spin with this thought. Like literally. What she said is what most of us are feeling right now. We have been cheated and robbed of our ancestral heritage, the tales of valour and bravery having been shoddily toned down to mere masala Bollywood movie flicks, full of glitz and glamour, devoid of any real value or historical corroboration. Wasn’t Ravan a true blue Brahmin, one who had wronged and agreed, but was by principles a man of complete integrity, having even respected Sita’s dignity in spite of having abducted her? Never once did she violate someone’s rights,  and the complete chain of events was such that the scenario transpired in that manner. No, I am not supporting him here or saying he was right, but he definitely was not as shoddy and horrific as made out to be in this flick.

Likewise, for Hanuman ji. I have always grown up reading tales of the bravery of Shri Hanuman and seeing him smile in spite of his macho demeanour and persona. Behind that steely demeanour, I always saw that kind, twinkling smile reflect, be it in the tele serials or even Ramanand Sagar’s primal version of it, which we all grew up watching and acknowledging as our perception of the great epic. And this one? The tone of his talking? Do we want our younger ones to remember Hanuman Ji in this way? Talking so rogue? He, as a god figure, had an aura of calm. And here was Hanuman in Adipurush, as some overtly rough street thug, speaking slang worse than Munnabhai’s circuit!

Coming to another so-called highlight, well, the VFX was not so great after all. I mean plagiarized, presumably of lower quality; this one was probably being touted simply so as to justify the 500-odd crore expense spent in producing it. I can barely imagine the meme fest that will commence given the quality of these visuals. Uff!

 Also, just for the record, changing Ram ji’s name to Raghav, Laxman’s to Shesh, and Sita’s to Janki is a ploy, just so that they can avoid the popular original names and call it an “inspired” version. Touche’.

But coming to bigger issues, what about the fact that the language used is way beneath even regular? I mean, how do you justify our great Hanuman using lines such as

Kapda tere baap ka, Tel tere baap ka, aag tere baap ki, aur jalegi teri baap ki

Is this some bloody country bar or street fight being shown here? Guys, please, this is “the epic of the century,” for God’s sake. How do you justify the use of such language? Ok, I mean, don’t give us pure Sanskrit or Devanagari, but this? Unacceptable!

Ok, before you argue, let me clarify, I may not have seen the movie completely, but I have seen enough scenes, promos, and trailers to back up my monologue today. There are people who are defending the movie, and there are others who are despising it. Let me be honest, this spiteful depiction of our gods, factual supreme inaccuracies, less than pedestrian language usage, and unacceptable language usage are just not enough to summarize this blasphemy, this vitriol of religious violation. And the best part? Well, the makers decided to call it “an adaptation”. Another effort towards damage control, huh?

Sadly, Saif Ali Khan, a gem, has been wasted here. We completely missed the mark, didn’t we? He is Ravan, not Khilji, for Pete’s sake! Why such a dark, gory, and slinky kind of depiction, just because he is the villain in this scenario? God, grow up, guys! This is not what we have to show our next of kin. I wouldn’t want my next takeaway Ramayan in this form; I need something closer to home. Not a super “bollywoodishly” tempered, spritzed, tantalizingly tempered version of something that, to begin with, is of great moral value to me. No, you do not have the right to misrepresent even Ravan, a Rakshas, because that is history, our ancestral heritage, the depiction of our golden pre-historic times. I won’t even allow or advocate that kids watch this. It will besmirch their impression of the saga completely.

And the biggest deception of all—tell me, you guys, just by chanting Jai Shree Ram, can they possibly exonerate themselves and get away with this? The makers, I mean. Nope, certainly not. So, a heinous crime here, if there ever was one, was committed through such a depiction of a great epic, blasting not only its reputation but also its essence to smithereens.

On a lighter note, I am attaching the links for the best (actually, the worst critically) possible review of the movie. Go click and enjoy the cheekiness of Monica

1. Adipurush Review – Part 1
2. Adipurush Review – Part 2

So, to sum it up, what do I think? Should Adipurush be banned?

Yes, because it is simply an overly faulty, downsized, poorly standardized, jeopardized, ambushed, confuzzled, scandalized, sensationalized, and controversially incorrect depiction of one of the greatest epics of our country!

Phew!! That was a barrage of grammatical terms, wasn’t it?

So, I hope you guys liked my thoughts on this one. Stay tuned with us right here at Booxoul for the best in the fields of entertainment, lifestyle, food, fun, finance, education, fashion, tech, and gadgets, as well as all things bookish.

Adios Amigos!