Om Raut’s directorial Adipurush has officially crashed at the box office and the reasons are very well known to the public. Om Raut had the vision to modernise Hindu mythological saga Ramayan for the younger audience. Unfortunately, it backfired and how! The younger and the older generation are collectively criticizing Om Raut’s work. People are now reflecting back to the Japanese anime that brought Ramayan to life perfectly. And not to forget Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan that isn’t just a visual treat but has strong sentiments attached to it even after three decades. How often do you see actors being worshipped as a God just because the filmmaker made them look so convincing on-screen? So where did Om Raut fail? Was it the moment when he decided that our Lord Ram has a moustache or was it when he decided that Shiv Bhakt Raavan should get a hairstyle of TikTok generation? Ramanand Sagar’s son Prem Sagar decodes the failure of Adipurush in an exclusive chat with senior journalist Bharathi S Pradhan.
He begins by saying, “In the credits, they said that it is based on Valmiki’s Ramayan. If they just said that it is inspired or something, then it would have been a better thinking process. Perhaps, they wanted to make Ramayan for today’s generation. But then, they should have made it for that niche audience- the breach-candy audience, the foreign audience. But the image of Ram that resides in the hearts of millions of people has been there for centuries. Ramayan is from Treta Yug. It’s not a myth. I am sorry for saying that! It’a reality. Even today Ram Setu exists, Chitrakoot exists, and Kishkindha exists. Even Lanka exists, though it’s not of gold anymore.”
Raavan had “Sone Ki Lanka”- A kingdom made of Gold and filled with prosperity. We have grown up with this fact! So what made Om Raut turn a golden kingdom into a den of a monstrous devil with dark and gloomy atmosphere? Prem Sagar says, “They had a vision that today’s villain is black. So, they gave black shade to Lanka. Maybe, it was a wrong judgment. What happens with films is that there is a very thin border between commerce, reality and glamour. It’s like walking on the edge of a sword because it’s a mass media combination.”
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He further adds, “I am not blaming anybody. But to be very honest, Maa Saraswati doesn’t come to everyone. I am giving a very different thought. Maa Laxmi comes very easily. Your father was rich, he left much wealth for you to enjoy. You can own a yacht. A father could be a big intellectual. But he can’t pass down Maa Sarasvati. She only goes to the man who deserves it. So, when you have the blessings of Maa Saraswati, then a writer’s pen is stronger than a sword. If you are a musician, you can’t put out trash, you can’t make fun. You can’t change the raag.”
Prem Sagar further elaborates, “Religion is a very individual thing. For every person, it means something different. What religion was 10 years ago, is not the same today. Today, living together is okay, it is allowed. It is not counted as blasphemy. So, religion changes with time. But the sensitivity, responsibility and the boundaries associated with religion stays very important. While you are making Ramayan, Maryada (boundary) is important. You can’t take liberties there. You must understand that Ram is Ram. You have no right to change Shri Ram.”
Adipurush‘s Ram has a moustache. Some would say what difference does a moustache make! Explaining the same, Prem says, “India has many borders and India has many looks. Like Punjabis have Greek look, Bengalis have Thai look. There are only four colors in the world- Black, white, yellow and brown, and the rest are all mixed. Ram comes from Ayodhya. Very few people would be that sensitive to bring the Aryan look into Ram. That’s very important according to me. This is my personal thinking as a maker. You have to think of Ram as an Aryan. Secondly, there an image of Ram in the hearts and minds of millions of people for centuries. Ram cannot have a moustache. Everything has changed over the years but the image of Ram hasn’t changed. So, playing around the image of Ram for modernization is not good.”
Every failure is a lesson. That’s what we hope Om Raut, Manoj Muntashir and other members take away from the outcome of Adipurush.
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