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T-Series Films and Retrophiles’ Adipurush is based on the chapters of Ramayan, which deal with the kidnapping of Janki (Sita; Kriti Sanon) by Lankesh (Ravan; Saif Ali Khan), and Raghav’s (Ram; Prabhas) fight to secure her release.
Om Raut has written the adapted story and screenplay. The story, of course, is very interesting and engaging because it is a lovely human drama. However, the screenplay is not half as good as it should’ve been. It is devoid of emotions and light moments. Although the story is about the separation of a married couple, the viewers are not moved to tears. This is a major minus point. Besides, there are hardly any light scenes. Frankly, the drama is so flat that the audience fail to get engaged completely. Yes, the epic story has its inherent plus points but, unfortunately, the drama woven around the story is not too entertaining. Of course, there are some interesting scenes too. For instance, the scene in which the Water God tells Raghav to throw stones into the sea and promises to ensure that they don’t sink, is lovely. Similarly, the scene in which Shesh (Sunny Singh) kills Indrajeet (Vatsal Sheth), and Raghav kills Lankesh are interesting. The scene showing Bajrang (Devdatta G. Nage) carrying an entire mountain when he is asked to get Sanjeevani booti from the mountain should have been a major clap-trap, but the audience response in it is dull. Just one point here: cinematic liberties are fine, but why did the writer change the reason for Bajrang to get the entire mountain? As the Ramayan tells us, Bajrang was not able to identify the Sanjeevani booti needed to save Shesh’s life and, therefore, decided to carry the entire mountain with him. But the writer has changed the reason for Bajrang to carry the mountain — he does so because he feels, the booti would come in handy for others who might get injured in the battle with Lankesh and his army. This is a clear example of a cinematic liberty which dilutes the impact rather than enhancing it.
All in all, the screenplay is not what a film of this canvas should’ve had. Frankly, it would not be wrong to say that the drama is devoid of excitement at many places, because of which the viewers don’t become a part of it but rather remain silent spectators. The characters hardly get scope to perform because the drama just doesn’t build up. Manoj Muntashir Shukla’s dialogues ought to have been more firebrand. Except for a couple of them (like the bhagwa jhanda dialogue and the maryada dialogue), most of the dialogues lack punch. And pray, how does Bajrang threaten Lankesh’s man by saying, “Main tujhe dho daloonga” or some such line? ‘Dho daloonga’ is a coinage of maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but surely, nobody in the era of Ramayan could’ve even dreamt of such a line. Such mistakes, even if done for creating a light moment, are unpardonable when one is talking about Ramayan, no less.
Before talking about performances of actors, a line in general. Most of the main actors don’t even have worthwhile roles! Prabhas is alright as Raghav but the serenity of Lord Ram is missing on his face. His physique, though, is fabulous. Saif Ali Khan acts admirably as Lankesh. However, his walking style is odd, at times. Kirti Sanon gets limited scope as Janki. She looks beautiful and does justice to her character. Sunny Singh is so-so as Shesh, a character which gets minimal scope. Devdatta G. Nage is effective as Bajrang. Siddhant Kiran Karnick makes a mark as Vibhishan. Vatsal Sheth is lovely as Indrajeet. Sonal Chauhan is alright as Mandodari. Tejaswini Pandit has her moments as Shurpankha. Ajit Shidhaye leaves a fine mark as Prahasta. Ayesha Madhukar is okay as Maya. Bijay J. Anand (as Brahma), Krishna Kotian (as Dashrath), Asha Sharma (in a half-baked role as Shabri) and others lend routine support.
Om Raut’s direction is below the mark. He seems to have concentrated more on the visual effects and computer graphics than the human drama. Resultantly, the film turns out to be like a body beautiful in which the soul is missing. Also, it often gives the feel of an animation film. Music (Ajay-Atul; one song — ‘Ram Siya Ram’ — by Sachet-Parampara) is a big plus point because several of them are age-old bhajans. Manoj Muntashir Shukla’s lyrics are of a fine standard and evoke Hindu sentiments. Ganesh Acharya and Ranju Varghese’s choreography is okay. Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara’s background music should’ve been better. Karthik Palani’s cinematography is very good. Visual effects and computer graphics are nice at places but not up to the mark at other places. However, they take away the mythological element from the drama, to some extent. Ramzan Bulut and Pradyumna Kumar Swain’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Production designing (Priya Suhas and Nishant Jogdand) is very nice. Ashish Mhatre and Apurva Motiwale Sahai’s editing needed to be sharper.
On the whole, Adipurush has poor merits, but its business will be far better because of the Hindutva wind blowing in the country, the scale of the mythological drama, and the initial craze which has been generated. It will not get the praises. Children will like the film.
Released on 16-6-’23 at Inox (daily 13 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: excellent. Opening: superb. …….Also released all over. Opening was excellent almost everywhere. …….The Telugu (dubbed) version will fare well but the business of the dubbed Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam versions is expected to be dull.