CAST: Prabhat, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Devdatta Nage, Sunny Singh, Vatsal Seth, Jai Bhanushali
DIRECTOR: Om Raut
In a Game of Thrones backdrop and a perennial magic hour, Adipurush sets itself up as a very black-and-white portrayal of the epic mythology of Ramayana.
For those uninitiated, Ramayana was traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrating the life of Rama, a legendary prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala.
Dated from around 500 BCE to 100 BCE, Rama was the eldest son of the great king Dasharatha. The gods had declared that he was born for the specific purpose of defeating the demon-king Ravana. He is considered to be the seventh incarnation of the great god, Vishnu.
Rama won the hand of his wife Sita in an archery contest, in which he was the only contender able to bend a bow that had once belonged to Shiva. Sita had been born of a furrow in the earth (this is what her name means). The two were extremely happy together and returned to live in Rama’s home, in Ayodhya.
Rama’s stepmother, Kaikeyi, wanted to promote her son Bharata as heir to the throne of her husband, Dasharatha; Rama was eldest, and the honor rightly was due him. Kaikeyi called in several favors her husband had promised her and forced Dasharatha, who could not go back on his promises to his wife—-to exile Rama for fourteen years. Rama’s brother Lakshman and his wife insisted on accompanying him, and they left together. Dasharatha died of grief, and Bharata attempted to persuade his brother to return. Rama, also bound not to go back on his word, refused. Bharata pledged to rule in Rama’s name until his return.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshman wandered in the forest until Rama was seen by Shurpnakha, who fell in love with him. Rama rejected her and when she attacked Sita with her allies, Lakshman retaliates and cut her nose off. She appealed to her brother Ravana, the strongest and most dangerous demon on earth at that time, for help. Ravana decided to kidnap Sita, the wife of Rama to avenge his sister.
Shurpnakha is portrayed as a seductress as she instigates her brother and plays on his ego to get him to want Sita. And then she drinks to that.
The story of Adipurush starts with the life of Ram ( Raghav). Sita ( Janaki) and Shesh ( Lakshman); living their lives in exile.
Like any other Bollywoodish movie, the line between good and bad, honor and evil is clearly demarcated with visuals, colors and body posturing. Raghav’s environs are serene, colorful while Ravana ( Lankesh) lives in a fortress is forever gray.
But all the fun in this movie starts when Lankesh starts the party. Saif Ali Khan is a beaut. He brings attitude, evil, and joy to the character of Lankesh and makes elevates him from being just a normal evil guy to an evil guy you look forward to watching as his ten heads argue with each other – you enjoy each one of them.
The movie follows the lore to the core trying not to deviate from the good vs bad message but ends up being mediocre in the process. It is almost afraid of being creative.
Considering its big budget, we were expecting a lot more from the movie technically. That is where the movie fails. In leaving the story without color, the VFX fails to imaginatively present the narrative with conviction and craft.
The quality of the production seems like a basic video game. Lankesh however gets all the fun creativity whereas Ram gets a CGI forest with a monkey empire and Janaki gets a cherry blossom corner.
While the two men and their armies unleash a war for the woman ( Who could have prevented the war by just leaving with Hanuman when she had the opportunity), the portrayal of other women is not layered. All the characters in the movie are either good or evil. Nothing in between.
Vatsal Sheth plays Indrajit, Lankesh’s son- a guy with magic-like speed ( hey Flash) and hilarious dialogues. Prabhas gets to stand in the same pose across various CGI backgrounds.
Saif Ali Khan’s Lankesh gets all the fun.
Raghav and Janaki are rigid and constrained. Raghava, portrayed by Prabhas, has an almost statuesque presence, failing to bring emotion even in battle scenes. The dialogue delivery and interaction among characters feel forced and inauthentic, with a dearth of genuine human emotions
In essence, the film juxtaposes the old with the new. The modern and futuristic setting of Lanka against the traditional representation of Raghava and his compatriots seems to symbolize the clash between tradition and modernity. The film appears to deliver the message that while progress is inevitable, it should not dilute the sacredness of ancient storytelling. However, ironically, it employs cutting-edge technology to convey this very message.
In conclusion, Adipurush is a visually stunning film, but it feels torn between honoring tradition and embracing the boundlessness of creativity. The dichotomy renders the movie engaging in parts but also profoundly disconnected in others
