Teaser of ‘Adipurush’, starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, and Saif Ali Khan, has just been out for two days, yet social media users have already taken to criticising the movie. These days, practically every movie is vulnerable to the ‘boycott’ craze, and the Om Raut-directed film is no exception.
The awful VFX are primarily to blame for the Adipurush teaser’s failure to live up to fans’ expectations. For the same reason, many people expressed their dissatisfaction with this high-profile Ramayana rendition, but others accused the creators of ‘misrepresenting’ the story. The major reason is Ravana’s on-screen appearance as Saif Ali Khan.
Many online users contend that the actor’s portrayal of Ravana in the movie misrepresents ‘Indian history’ by failing to accurately capture his appearance. Malavika Avinash, an actress and BJP spokesperson, also tweeted that Saif’s character resembled a ‘Turkish despot.’
She was also cited by News 18 saying, ‘The Ravana in the picture I see flying around is a person who looks nothing Indian, who has blue eye makeup, and who is wearing leather jackets. They are expressing our history, so they can’t do it under the pretence of artistic freedom.’
Narottam Mishra, the MP for Home Affairs, was also quoted by ANI as saying, ‘We have an objection to the portrayal of the film Adipurush. It is unacceptable to disparage us by improperly photographing hindu faith on movies.’
According to the article, he also said that he would write to the director and threatened legal action against the movie if the sequences weren’t changed.
It’s also noteworthy that all depictions of the mythological ruler are based on TV episodes and movies that are adaptations of the epic, such as Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. People continued to express their worries about the ‘distortion of history’ notwithstanding this.
While it’s possible to criticise the film or its visuals in general, the hashtag #BoycottAdipurush has also given trolls licence to post anti-Islamic remarks because, well, why not. Nuance appears to be completely lost when it comes to satirising Bollywood.
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