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Adipurush is the kind of film that makes you want to go to Facebook and mark yourself safe after watching it. Say what you want about the film, Adipurush did something that not even cricket could do in this country for years - unite people to hate against the film. While some are appalled by how bad the movie has turned out to be, others are accusing the makers of Adipurush of allegedly insulting Ramayana with their own interpretation. Adipurush Movie Review: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan's Film is a CGI Mess That Does Lanka-Dahan Of Our Senses.
Now I am someone who respects a filmmaker's interpretation and his artistic vision - interestingly, some of those who claim Adipurush is insulting Ramayana were also defending The Kerala Story a few days back, asking to respect the director's vision - but I cannot defend a movie that is so underwhelming and disappointing. Om Raut may have had some grand vision about the film and it shows in some of the ideas, but his execution to pull off those ideas fall flat in many places. Especially in the over-ambitious VFX-driven second half. On top of that, the writing is all over the place - the screenplay doesn't know where to invoke the artistic reinterpretation (see Raavan scenes) or stick with the original source (see Ram scenes).
In this SPOILER-ish feature (don't say we didn't warn you), we look at 15 moments in the film that made us go WTF they are doing here! You can share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Poser Prabhas
This is not exactly a moment per se, but what exactly was Prabhas doing in the film? The Baahubali actor gives a very thanda performance and looks a clear miscast in the role, and more so, the film makes him do poses for the camera more than actually make him perform as an actor. He was finding it difficult to pull off the serenity of Lord Ram, nor was he able to harness the warrior spirit of the character, which he did so well in the Baahubali films. This makes for an awkward contrast with Saif's Ravana, who, for all the criticisms against his character interpretation, at least is chewing the scenery.
That Spectral Attack
You know things ain't right when the first 'action' scene has Raghav take on CGI-fied demons that look pretty much artificial, while the fight scene is very awkwardly choreographed. There is also no explanation given to who that masked person is that carried out the attack. Adipurush: Om Raut's Old Tweet Calling Lord Hanuman 'Deaf' is Going Viral After Fans Were Unhappy With Hindu God's Dialogues in Prabhas-Starrer.
Lankesh's Ten Heads
There was one good idea that Om Raut wanted to implement in Saif's portrayal of Ravana, that I liked. That the Demon God could be suffering from multiple personality disorder and his 10 heads is a visual presentation of that disorder. The thing is, that presentation is both funny and inconsistent on screen. Either the heads are shown stacked to the side of each other, or on top of each other. Also I am not sure if the others around him could see those heads, and if not, whether they wonder why Ravana keeps talking to himself. Adipurush: Saif Ali Khan's '10-Headed Ravana' Pic From Prabhas-Starrer Goes Viral for All Wrong Reasons, as Twitterati Trolls the Film For Its VFX!
Bali and Sugreev Fight
After that spectral fight scene, the visual content of Adipurush showed some improvement, especially the Jatayu and Ravana chase-fight and the picturisation of the "Shivoham" song. However, that thought took a tumble when they had to show the Sugreev-Bali fight. Firstly there is no explanation given to why the siblings are at loggerheads, and secondly, seeing two animated ape-humans go at each other felt clearly fake, with the shaky camera trying to do its best to distract us from the dodgy VFX.
Hanuman Being the Only 'Human' Looking Vaanar
This has been bothering me right from the trailers. Why is Hanuman, or Bajrang in the film, the only human-looking vaanar in the whole sena? He is the only character to portrayed by a real actor, while the rest of mo-cap CGI creations. No explanation, given! Also why is Ravana surprised that there are 'monkeys' that can talk when his own army is filled with borrowed ogres from Lord of the Rings?
What's With the Names?
When it comes to names, I am also confused as to why Adipurush insist on referring Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman by their alternative names Raghav, Janki, Sesh and Bajrang respectively. It feels even more jarring when you call the main protagonist 'Raghav' and then has the background score go blaring 'Jai Shri Ram'!
Lankesh Getting Massaged By Snakes
The one scene that generated genuine chuckles from the audience in my screening is where Lankesh aka Ravana is getting some good massage from a bunch of snakes! His expressions feel like he is getting sexual pleasure from this experience and a screenshot of the scene is already going viral where one of the snakes below his hip makes Twitterati claim that it looks like he has a huge, black err... dong!
That Borrowed 'Chapri' Dialogue
Another most criticised aspect of Adipurush are Manoj Muntashir Shukla's dialogues, that are either simplative, or philosophical or, as some fans are saying, very 'chapri'. The latter allegation is mostly pointed out in the Ashoka vatika scene where Indrajit confronts Bajrang, where the lines goes like "कपड़ा तेरे बाप का! तेल तेरे बाप का! जलेगी भी तेरे बाप की". Adipurush: Manoj Muntashir Defends Hanuman’s Tel Tere Baap Ka Dialogue, Says ‘Had To Simplify the Language for Audience’ (Watch Video).
Funny part is this line is also seemingly 'inspired' by the below video:
मनोज मुंतशिर ने पहले भी कविताएँ चुरायी है अब #Adipurush में जो डायलॉग बोले गये वह भी मनोज मुंतशिर ने यहाँ से चुराये।@manojmuntashir जी इतनी चोरी क्यों?pic.twitter.com/qAGGIicBFs
— Dr Nimo Yadav (@niiravmodi) June 16, 2023
Raghav Can't Recognise His Wife
When a doppelganger spy sent by Ravana to infiltrate Raghav's army and he takes on the form of Vibhishana (Siddhant Karnick), Raghav easily recognises he is fake even though he had only known Vibhishana for a short amount of time. Compare this to the scene where Indrajit slits Janki's throat at the battleground and she 'dies' in Raghav's arms, only for him to realise he has been tricked again. Why didn't Raghav recognise that the person he is holding is not his wife of so many years? And how can you fall for the same trick thrice? Remember he was already fooled by the golden deer that led to Janki's kidnapping.
Adipurush vs The Avengers
For reasons best known to him, Om Raut stages the first group moment of Raghav and his team as the same as Joss Whedon got the Avengers together in the New York climactic fight scene in first Avengers film be it in the group placement and the camera movement. Even Sugreev shouts the same way as the Hulk or Sesh holds his bow the same way as Hawkeye. Here's the original Avengers meetup scene...
The Avengers parallels don't end there. Indrajit is given the same powers as Quicksilver, including having a blue streak when he runs fast. When he attacks Raghav's unit with fast powers, I was reminded of a similar scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron when Quicksilver gets an upperhand on the Avengers unit especially against Hawkeye in the opening act of the film.
Sarama's Description of Sanjivani
When Sesh gets poisoned, Vibhishana's wife, who has knowledge of medicinal herbs, claims only Sanjivani can save him. When Bajrang asks how to identify the herb, she gives the most vague description of the plant that is confounding as hell. No wonder Bajrang had to carry the entire mountain, though he explains to himself that the army may need more herbs in the war. In the Ramayana that I read, Hanuman did so because he failed to identify the herb on the mountain, and with such a vague description given to him, who can blame the God?
Sesh's Jon Silver Moment
It is not just The Avengers where Om Raut takes inspirations from. From God of War (videogame) to Game of Thrones (HBO Show), fans could find similarities in some of the aesthetics or scenes. One particular scene is Sesh's reawakening to life. From Sarama's very Melisandre like act to how Sesh's body is placed on the table and the lighting of the scene, the whole scene reminded me of how Jon Snow was brought back to life in GoT.
Pushpaka Vimana Gets Woefully Ignored
In Valmiki's version of Ramayana, Ravana abducts Sita and carries her to Lanka on his Pushpaka vimana. In Om Raut's version, Ravana goes for a more unusual transportation - a giant bat whom we see him later feeding large leg pieces. It's not that Pushpak Vimana doesn't exist in Adipurush world; we do see it in a scene later just lying around, but the flying contraption gets ignored just so Ravana can look cooler riding a bat like Count Dracula!
That Underwater Assassination Scene
There are many scenes in the film that feely dodgy when it comes to its VFX in the second half, but the most flimsy goes to the scene where Sesh attacks and kills Indrajit underwater. The whole scene looks so terrible that it looks out of a fantasy DD show from the '90s. Also, is it me or the scene where Sesh tackles Indrajit's leg from underwater straight out of RRR?
The CGI-Overblown Climax Fight
Most of the second half is an over-extended climax where the film overexerts itself with its usage of CGI and VFX that we do not feel any sort of stakes at all. So when many soldiers in the monkey army gets slaughtered or when Raghav does some air-flipping stunts, it's hard to feel anything in these scenes. This is exactly that the problem you have in your hand when you make your film rely way too much on CGI that everything looks fake in a live-action movie. When you make a film on a budget of reportedly Rs 600 crore, the idea is that the movie should look rich in its presentation, not dreary in its overladen visual effects and feel so unrelatable. Just see how Marvel got it all wrong with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantamania!
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 17, 2023 06:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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