Congress, AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT) criticise ‘Adipurush’ for offending sentiments, ‘controversial’ portrayal of Lord Hanuman

PTI, Jun 17, 2023, 8:05 PM IST

New Delhi: Several parties, including the AAP, Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT), on Saturday criticised filmmaker Om Raut’s “Adipurush” for hurting the sentiments of the people with the portrayal of Lord Hanuman, whereas the BJP demanded a temporary suspension of the film’s screening in theatres.

Fronted by Prabhas, “Adipurush” has been panned on social media over its poor VFX and colloquial dialogues, with writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla under fire for Lord Hanuman’s dialogues in the ‘Lanka Dahan’ sequence, among others.

The 3D multilingual film, also starring Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan and Sunny Singh, was released across the country on Friday.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called the language used in the film “tapori” (crass or one used by street thugs) and said it has hurt the sentiments of the people.

“Lord Shri Hanuman is the symbol of gentleness and seriousness. In 1987, when Mr. Ramanand Sagar made the serial Ramayana, then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had said that ‘Ramayana’ has ignited the hearts and minds of millions of viewers. Communicated the great culture, tradition and moral values of India.

“The author of that Ramayana was Ramanand Sagar, who did not hurt the feelings of crores of people with tapori language, but imprinted a sweet, gentle and charming image of Siya Ram in the minds and hearts of the society,” she tweeted.

Shrinate said there is a difference between “religion and the business of religion”.

“You will get cheap popularity on the strength of your sycophancy, but lack of talent definitely comes in the way. The writer who calls Hanuman ‘Tere Baap ki Jali’ is…a very vulgar type,” she said.

In an appeal to Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the film should be re-examined for its “controversial scenes and dialogues”.

“Film ‘Adipurush’ is being opposed everywhere. Therefore it is requested that its controversial scenes and dialogues should be re-examined. The Censor Board should temporarily suspend its censor certificate and its exhibition should be banned till it is reviewed again,” Kapoor said in a tweet in Hindi.

Talking to reporters at his residence in Raipur, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the movie is an attempt to tarnish the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman.

When asked by reporters whether the state government will ban this movie, Baghel said, “The government will think about it (ban) if people will raise a demand in this direction.”

“An attempt is being made to tarnish the image of all our deities. We have seen the gentle face of Lord Ram and that of Lord Hanuman drenched in devotion, but from the last few years an attempt is being made to change this image,” he said.

In an apparent jibe at the BJP, Baghel questioned the “silence” of political parties which call themselves the custodian of religion.

Baghel said Lord Hanuman has been introduced as a symbol of wisdom, power and devotion since our childhood, but in this film, “Lord Ram is shown as the ‘Yuddhak’ (warrior) Ram and Hanuman as the angry bird”.

“The dialogues and language used in this movie are indecent. In Tulasidas’ Ramayana, Lord Ram was portrayed as ‘Maryada Purushottam’ and decent language was used. In ‘Adipurush’, dialogues of characters are of very low level,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said writer Muntashir, as well as the film’s director Raut, should apologise to the country for “the pedestrian dialogues written for the movie, especially for Lord Hanuman”.

“It hurts every Indian’s sensibilities to see the kind of language being attributed to our revered gods in the name of entertainment. You make a movie on ‘Maryada Purushottam’ Ram and cross all boundaries of Maryada (dignity) for quick box office success is unacceptable,” she said in a tweet.

Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters, party Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Singh said the film is a “grave insult” to Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lord Hanuman as well as the Hindu society and accused the BJP of allowing the film to be made.

He demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda for allowing the making and the screening of such a film.

The film has been made “with the blessings” of the BJP leaders and chief ministers, including Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Haryana’s Manohar Lal Khattar, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, the AAP leader alleged.

“I am holding this press conference with great sorrow and pain because BJP, for its cheap politics, is openly insulting Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram, Bhagwan Bajrang Bali and Mata Sita,” Singh said.

He alleged that the film has “cheap dialogues” and “certain scenes, which no Hindu will ever accept”.

Moti Sagar, son of Ramanand Sagar and one of the directors of the iconic DD show “Ramayan”, said the makers of “Adipurush” could have been more “careful” with their approach in adapting the mythological epic for the big screen.

“Certain dialogues, which I am reading on the news and on Twitter, I can say they could have been careful,” Moti Sagar, who worked on the 1987 show “Ramayan” with his father Ramanand Sagar and brother Prem Sagar, told PTI.

“He (writer) must have thought of making the film more attractive for the common man, who speaks such language,” the director-producer said.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, “Adipurush” has a budget of Rs 500 crore. The makers claimed the film raised Rs 140 crore on the day one of its release on Friday.