Actor Sunil Lahri, who essayed the role of Lakshman in Ramanand Sagar’s TV show Ramayanahe is disgusted by the treatment of the epic in Om Raut’s Adipurushand questions how cheap dialogue and misrepresentation make the story modern.
“I saw the film on purpose because I didn’t want to say anything without seeing the film. And watching it was very disappointing. I never expected that the makers with such background and work could make such a movie. They have made a joke of our epic and Sanskrit, and it is an insult,” Lahri tells us.
Ever since its release, the Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and SaidfSaif Ali Khan starrer, touted as a dramatic retelling of the mythological story, has been panned from all quarters for its dialogues, vernacular and VFX. While the makers have shared that the team will revise the dialogues, the criticism refuses to budge.
Call Adipurush “Disgusting,” adds Lahiri, “If it was a foreigner making such a film, we might think that the person does not know our culture. But this is unjustified. They have made a mockery of the story as well as the characters, with the language they have used.”
He further points out that the team has also tampered with the facts and “shows Lord Ram going into battle on Lord Hanuman instead of a chariot which is wrong”.
Talking about Saif Ali Khan’s character as Ravan, he says, “If we forget that he was playing the role of Ravan and a negative character, then we can say that he did a good job. We cannot name the character of Ravan because he was very intelligent. Saif’s portrayal was wrong from the start which is the look. He looked more like a Mughal. I don’t know what the brief was. We could not distinguish between Ram and Lakshman because they looked the same, be it body or expression.’
Lahiri mentions that the actors are not at fault here, but it is the director and the creative team who made the blunder and hence, the emotional connection is also missing from the film.
“Tattoo lagane se koi modernn nahi hota. They wanted to make it modern the way such cheap dialogues make it modern. And if our Ramayan was not contemporary and accepted by the people, how did it perform so well during the lockdown,” he wonders.
Now, Lahiri suggested Prem Sagar to use the technology to recreate a new chapter from their Ramayana book.
“We can do the battle of Lanka in IMAX. These are some iconic characters, they can use animation technology and use these characters in a new story. It will turn out to be a viral project”, he concludes.
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