The Weirdly Dystopian Adipurush Film

One of the common definitions of dystopia is a futuristic or imagined setting where freedom is lost and oppression reigns. This is the setting for the film Adipurush.

While the Ramayana is a historical account, the filmmakers have utilized an ill-fitting futuristic setting for the tale which doesn’t quite seem to gel with the context of the original story. The Ramayana took place in a better yuga than what we experience today and thus the setting should have been joyful, emanating color and vibrancy. However, the film Adipurush shows a disrupted, dystopian imagined state that lacks color, greenery, or hopes, thereby dulling all motivation when it comes to engaging the senses of the audience.

Let’s tease out the color aspects. The setting is grey, where a lack of colors dominates every shot. Even the clothing is dimmed in color and the saffron flags and outfits look washed out and faded. The dimness of color is accompanied by the dimness of emotions, thus leading to a false sense of demureness which translates as depression for the audience. The absence of colors and emotions translates to a tough, unnatural, and anxiety-ridden episode of 1-2 hours which the audience will pay in more than one way to endure.

The cast is a miss. Ma Sita looks anorexic and the sunken cheekbones lead one to think that Ramarajya must have experienced decades of famine for her to look malnourished. In comparison, Sri Rama and Laxman look well fed but at whose expense? With the photoshopped tilak and Rudraksha beads, Ravana initially looks less Muslim, but Saif must be two feet shorter than Kriti’s Ma Sita and is miscast. Even though Saif’s troll stature is artificially exaggerated to “match” Sita’s character, it all looks disproportionate and fake. Speaking of fake, Kriti’s collagen-plumped lips could demand their own zip code in Ravana’s dystopian Lanka. The overfed Planet of the Apes characters including Hanuman are an embarrassment. Sri Hanuman is supposed to be the most pious and the epitome of what makes a devotee. The Hanuman character still continues to look like an unshowered namazi and so does the rest of the Vanar Sena, subconsciously reminding Hindus of their impending doom. Laxman’s character might have been outsourced to any realistic-looking robot as Sunny Singh seems constipated and stiffer than a board. Also, what was Prabhas thinking? Perhaps the 100 crores trumped taste and common sense. Actually, Prabhas would have made a fantastic Ravana – a deep and complex character. The actors are basically mismatched; there is no love, chemistry, or sparks between Rama and Sita; the supposed happy times look unbelievable and fake and this adds to the depressive misery of the film and apathy for the dull characters.

Lanka isn’t bejeweled with gold but covered in soot where one can smell the stench of permanent pollution. No one looks happy, not even for a second. The dialogues are forced and skewed and the CGI leaves us wanting more. The abduction scene contains elements of a bad 80’s horror film. In fact, all characters seem corpse-like and devoid of human emotion. Other mishaps are visible when Ravana loses his tilak and Rudraksha arm beads upon kidnapping Sita. It’s as if the director was forced to use the dharmic elements given the Hindu uproar after the first trailer and quickly finds a way to secularize Ravana. This anti-Hindu pattern is deeply entrenched in jihadi Bollywood which is an old dog incapable of learning new tricks – similarly, it’s impossible to redeem this production – no amount of tilak and Hindu symbolism will save this from sinking.

Bad VFX, Ramayana “inspired” story, humanizing Ravana, plagiarism allegations of the poster(s) and content, and mocking memes which will probably be more famous than the film, unfortunately, constitute project Adipurush. The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha hit the nail on the head with the following statement regarding the theme of the “inspired” film when the trailer first came out. The concern read “This film is a complete Islamisation of Ramayana and of Lord Ram, Maa Sita, Lord Hanuman. Even Saif Ali Khan who is playing the role of Ravana in the Adipurush movie looks like Taimur and Khilji. The film is going to spread hatred among a particular class by inciting religious sentiments in the country. This picture is being widely publicized through the Internet, which is completely harmful to our society and country.” The Ramayana, the supposed greatest story ever told in India’s civilizational history has now been reduced to a bad, Bollywood joke.

Overall, a film that should have highlighted the story of love, devotion, and understanding between Rama and Sita falls super flat. This Planet of the Apes meets the Hunger Games seems like a torturous saga that should never have been made. Why would any audience pay to be depressed? For those who wish to see Prabhas in real action will end up re-watching the Bahubali films instead of this one. The actors shouldn’t be surprised if this spells THE END for their Bollywood careers. The shock of the flop won’t be too bad for Saif as he hasn’t delivered a hit film in decades. Don’t be surprised if the Bollywood brown-noser brigade declares this film to be bigger than Brahmastra, which was a supposed hit in outer space.

There is one saving grace and that’s the film music score. As long as people overlook the film’s bad script, dialogue, and colorless and robotic aspects, the soundtrack might become popular.