'Impossible to cover every detail while making a movie': GenZ’ s take on Adipurush

Leah Valentina D’souza | NT

Bengaluru: Adipurush, a movie retelling Valmiki's Ramayan, faces controversies with Hindus demanding a ban on its screening due to alleged inaccurate depictions in the film. With Nepal banning the screening of the film over its controversial dialogues, this is not the first instance where a film has been banned due to religious or political reasons.

Several people expressed their dissent with the film but the real question to be asked is, can filmmakers truly please the Indian audiences while retaining creative and artistic liberty? When News Trail spoke to the GenZ audience about the movie, many believed due to the historicity of the tale, it is impossible to meet everyone’s expectations.

“Each of us has a different version of the story based on how the myth has been passed onto us from our ancestors. Nobody can prove what happened back then so we cannot tell someone else that their version is false. It’s our belief and faith which is why we pass down the stories to the future generations and only so much can be shown in a 3-hour movie”.

Beyond religious feelings, myths and stories have socio cultural relevance. GenZ viewers have criticised the dialogues in the movie and the inaccurate portrayal of Ravana’s character- “Ravana was a very intelligent man who was also pious, the makers have not represented him properly in the movie”, says Sangeetha.

“Many are finding fault with the costumes because they believe that Rama and Sita didn’t dress like that back then but the truth is that we weren’t alive during that time to know if the costumes of the characters in the movie are accurate or not”, says a student from Bengaluru.

Critiques of Adipurush, targeting Saif Ali Khan as anti-Hindu and questioning Kriti Sanon's aptness for Sita's role, stems from Islamophobia and sexism. “The concept of purity and pollution is a reflection of the Stone Age mindset of Indian Patriarchy trying to control women’s bodies”.

There are good films and bad films but whenever a film is made based on a religious tale it is bound to be met with extreme scrutiny by religious groups and the public at large. The root of this stems from the prejudices people carry with them and the orthodox nature of their beliefs and attitudes. To avoid this, filmmakers must avoid this cliche and maybe start telling a different story, observes GenZ.