Om Raut Presents “Adipurush”: A Timeless Tale Of The Supreme Man

Experience the divine epic written by Maharishi Valmiki in Om Raut’s “Adipurush”. As Sita gets abducted by the demon king Ravan, her husband Prabhu Shri Ram along with his younger brother Lakshman and devotee Bajrang Bali bar all obstacles and bring her back from Ravan’s captivity.

Experience Divinity And Serenity With Prabhu Shri Ram, Mata Sita, and Bajrang Bali!

Check out my narration of Adipurush here!

Adipurush (2023) Official Trailer:

The Good:

Prabhas looked heroic as Ram in Adipurush. He stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and has a well-built physique. But the problem with Prabhas is that he cannot speak Hindi. Adipurush was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, and in the Hindi version, Prabhas’ majestic voice of Lord Ram was actually dubbed by Sharad Kelkar. When you will watch Ram, you will wonder, “How can anybody be so divine and pious?” Lord Ram stays in our hearts. You can imagine him as a clean-shaven man, as he is mostly portrayed as, or a mustached man like Prabhas. Whatever may be the case, he is the divine being watching whom one can obtain serenity.

Devdatta Nage matched up to the character and physicality of Bajrang Bali in Adipurush. Bajrang Bali signifies courage and power. Let me tell you that I am into strength training and wrestling. In our wrestling arena, we have a big idol of Bajrang Bali. Bajrang Bali is the epitome of strength and of course, he proved to be a major aid to Lord Ram in his quest to destroy Ravan. Kriti Sanon as Sita and Sunny Singh as Lakshman were convincing. Although I feel that Kriti Sanon looked a bit too slim for the role of Sita.

Of course, nothing can be said about the plot, screenplay, and editing because this film showed everything that is mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana. I have read Ramayana, and I can match all the incidents that have been shown in Adipurush. I have to say, great job by the editors as they have managed to portray such a massive historical epic in just three hours!

The dialogues in Adipurush were ultra-powerful. Hearing them will make you feel the intensity of Ramayana. However, certain dialogues in the movie have rowdy vibes and thus, they have aroused huge controversy. Indian audiences feel that such rowdy vibes in dialogues should not be present in a divine epic like Ramayana. I was a bit surprised when I heard these dialogues as I never expected that such a divine epic can have rowdy dialogues similar to those in present-day Bollywood action movies.

Shivoham From Adipurush: Featuring Saif Ali Khan As Ravan!

The Bad:

Indians just don’t seem to accept this epic historical action drama. People are heavily criticizing the costumes used in Adipurush. Some politicians have also threatened to put a ban on this film. Some people have even filed FIRs against the filmmakers of Adipurush claiming that they have humiliated Hinduism by showing inappropriate costumes. All I can say to these people is, “How can you guess what Lord Ram used to wear or how Ravan actually looked like 10,000 years ago?” Whatever it is, Adipursush surely has generated a huge amount of controversy following its release in 3D on the big screens. The problem with us Indians is that we are always looking out for seeking attention. So, those people who have nothing else to do, instead of enjoying this film, started making their own claims.

I agree with the fact that the VFX in the film was poor, no doubt about it. In fact, while sitting inside the theater hall and wearing massive 3D glasses to watch this film, I really had an uncomfortable time making out things as the screenplay proceeded. Some action scenes from Adipurush show Prabhas’ intro as Ram where he fought with several unidentified skeleton-like creatures all at the same time, Jatayu’s attack on Ravan while he was abducting Sita and flying away on his creature, and certain intensified instances in the final battle scene where Ram killed Ravan. These particular scenes were ultra fast-paced and dark. The CGI could have been better so that the audience could have had a comfortable viewing experience.

Also, the background of the fight scene between Bali and Sugreev appeared like King Louie’s palace in the 2016 fantasy-adventure film “The Jungle Book”. In some instances, the apes and monkeys looked rather cartoonish instead of real, and you can very well make out that they are the products of VFX. And moreover, the most hilarious fact is that the filmmakers have used gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, and whatever primates they could find to depict them as “Vanars”. Dear filmmakers of Adipurush, you could have portrayed the “Vanars” as ape-like human beings instead of pure chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys. The filmmakers have made Bali and Sugreev look like two big hairy crossbreeds between a gorilla and a chimpanzee. When the monkeys and apes were attacking Ravan’s palace, so many gorillas, chimpanzees, and monkeys made the scene appear exactly like scenes from “Planet of the Apes”. Also, the Godzilla-sized vampire bat which Ravan has been shown riding appears similar to the dragon of “Game of Thrones”. Here I think some of the CGI has been purposefully made similar to those in Hollywood movies. This does spoil the essence of Ramayana.

The most dramatic scene happened at the end. I don’t know whether to address it as good or bad, but I doubt if something like this might have happened in the actual Ramayana. In the climax flight scene, Ram and Ravan have been shown confronting and throwing massive punches at each other. Scenes also showed Ravan sending Ram hurtling and crashing into rocks with his heavy punches. This was truly weird! This scene looked more like a Bollywood-style fistfight rather than the real confrontation between Ram and Ravan that has been mentioned in Ramayana.

The Verdict:

Even if Saif Ali Khan’s performance as Ravan was intriguing, that’s not how the actual Ravan was. Ravan has been shown riding massive vampire bats and has also been shown as a cruel and wicked ruler. In Adipurush, Saif Ali Khan as Ravan has been shown to be somewhere around 16 to 18 feet tall. That’s actually apt as Ravan was indeed of that height and it has been mentioned in Valmiki’s Ramayana. Ram stood eight feet tall and that too has been mentioned in the Ramayana. I will be sharing more details about the great demon king or “so-called” demon king of Lanka in my next post. I will also talk about how Ravan is said to have ten heads. Actually, it is we, modern-day people, who address Ravan as a “demon”. He was a man just like you and me. And not just any ordinary man. He was a very learned man, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, and a great ruler under whom the kingdom of Lanka had earned great prosperity! If you study the books which Ravan authored 10,000 years ago, which I have, then I bet you will gain all the wisdom in this world! Ravan, the king of Lanka, was a great author and he had written some of the greatest books on Lord Shiva’s devotion, astrology, and medicine. If Ramayan was a mythology, then what about the books which Ravan wrote? I still study those books, and I can tell you that I am not stupid! I have those books with me and their author legitimately is Ravan! Yes, I am talking about the same “king of demons” Ravan whom Ram killed and who was supposed to have ten heads. However, in spite of being a great ruler and an author, he did abduct Sita and got killed by Lord Ram.

The opening credits song in Adipurush, “Ram Siya Ram” is heart-touching. This song is divine just like Lord Ram. This is not just a song, but an emotion and devotion towards Lord Ram. A phrase in the song goes,

II Hari Anant Hari Katha Ananta

Kahahi Sunahi Bahu Vidhi Sabh Santa

Ram Ratan Dhan Jo Koi Paaye

Jeevan Bhar Ramayan Gaaye

Mangal Bhavan Amangal Haari

Drabahu Su Dashrath Ajir Bihari II

This divine phrase means, “The Almighty knows no boundaries, and so are the tales of the Almighty. Praises of the divine Almighty have been sung by many saints. The one who obtains the treasure of love from Prabhu Shri Ram, he will sing Ramayana for life. O Prabhu Shri Ram, you are the abode of everything good and auspicious for all causes and destroyer of all that is evil.”

Although this magnum opus which has been adapted, co-produced, and directed by Om Raut has generated huge controversy, it for sure is engaging. I would advise the audience that when you go to watch a movie at the theater, just enjoy it. If you try to find out loopholes then you will find loopholes in everything you will see in life. Nothing on this planet is perfect. Nowadays, the mentality of Indians is getting so complicated and envious that when someone tries to achieve something, everyone tries to demean him or her. People have also accused this movie of hurting Hindu sentiments. So, my dear Hindus of India, I too am a Hindu Brahmin and I am asking you, when crimes against women occur in India, aren’t your Hindu sentiments hurt then? You have all the time in this world to file FIRs and put bans on movies that you feel have shown something incorrectly. But you don’t have the time to bring justice to those women who fall victim to heinous crimes in India?

During the battle with Ravan, Lord Ram addressed his Vanar warriors, “Fight this battle to make people remember you thousands of years from now. Fight this battle such that no person like Ravan can set his evil eyes upon any woman ever again!” That should be your moral from Adipurush, not the costumes of the characters.

Adipurush (2023) Final Trailer:

Stay Tuned for my next post on Ramayana. I will present some very interesting facts for you to go through! JAI SHRI RAM!! JAI BAJRANG BALI!!