Film Review: Adipurush (2023)

STORY

Raghava rejects Shurpanakha‘s proposal which infuriates her and attempts to kill Raghava’s wife, Janaki. In retaliation, Lakshmana bleeds her nose with an arrow. Shurpanakha informs her brother Ravana. Ravana kidnaps Janaki which starts an epic war.

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INTRODUCTION

Adipurush is a mythological action film based on the Sanskrit epic from ancient India called ‘Ramayana‘. Before I jump towards this cinematic disaster piece, let me give you a few insights about where this story is coming from.

Hinduism is arguably the world’s oldest religion. After four holy books of Vedas, two Sanskrit epics that together forms the Hindu mythological belief and constructs a university of faith are Mahabharata and Ramayana. And Adipurush is based on Ramayana.

A legendary poet Valmiki wrote this epic poem thousands of years ago. The poem covers Rama‘s life, his 14-year exile to the forest with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana. And then Sita’s kidnapping by Ravana that resulted in a war. And last of all, Rama’s return from exile.

Who was Rama? Rama was the prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. Kosala was one of the 16 realms that existed in the ancient India between 6th and 4th centuries in BCE that were collectively called “Mahajanapadas” which means great footold of people. Rama’s father was Dasharatha, the king of Kosala. He had three wives; Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi to Bharata, and Sumitra to twin sons Lakhsamana and Shatrughna. Bharata is the one who ruled Ayodhya when Rama was exiled.

So when Ravana kidnaps Sita to his Lanka, Rama and Lakshmana are informed about this shocking incident by Jatayu, the vulture, who tried to rescue Sita. Rama and Lakshmana seeks help from Sugriva and Bajrang Bali to raise an army against Ravana and liberate his wife from the captivity.

So readers, I have given you a lot of insight. I have shared you some bullet points of the story. So why is Adipurush a box-office disaster? Why the Indian viewers of Hindu faith have taken this film as a blasphemy? What went wrong? Almost everything.

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REVIEW

See, I have read the bullet events that occurred in Ramayana and Mahabharata. And I think that Hindu mythology really gives us some interesting stories. Back in the 1990s, I happened to watch a few scenes from Ramanand Sagar‘s Ramayana that, if I am not wrong, used to be telecasted on Doordarshan. Whatever was happening in the show looked to be weird to me in those times. In my mid-teen, I was not a film critic but a typical Shah Rukh Khan fan. So, my opinion in the childhood matters the least or close to none.

But in 2023, with elite level of CGI and many technologies to ponder our unsettling surprises, I can easily envision that if Valmiki’s epic poem is given justice by its true loyalist, both Ramayana and Mahabharata will be shot with the aesthetics of a combined universes of James Cameron‘s Avatar and Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of The Rings.

But in 2023, the general audience especially of the Hindu faith are tortured to watch three hours of Adipurush which is in all sorts, outrageous and quite insulting to Hinduism. Most surprisingly, a film on Hinduism has severely messed up when Narendra Modi is the prime minister of India.

AGONIZING THE VIEWERS

Adipurush begins with a disclaimer that mentally instils the ‘Hindu’ audience to expect a volcano erupt from the presentation. It clearly states that ‘certain elements, characters, and events may have been interpreted or modified to suit the screen adaptation’. Later on, it also informs that they may have include dramatizations and fictional additions. I have always believed that if the film is based on a true story, just depict in its true nature with the highest level accuracy as possible. Because if you don’t, the film carries no purpose at all. And Adipurush is based on Hindu mythology that has become a religion to more than a billion people on the planet. So altering the story or trying to install the whole story in different aesthetics will do no good.

CASTING AND TERRIBLE PORTRAYALS

One of the massive issues with the film is an extremely enormous production budget which is ₹500–700 crore. With that budget, the film ridicules the audience with one of the worst visual effects ever paranoid. Also, with that budget, the casting and their costumes and make-ups don’t fit at all. One of the highest-paid actors in India, Prabhas, played the titular role of Rama. But more than Rama, he looked like Karna of Mahabharata. Plus, Rama sporting a moustache looked pretty odd because I think this has never happened before. Not even in animated films.

Beautiful Kriti Sanon plays Sita but by her attire, I assume she is reimagined as Sita in a modern setup. But Adipurush’s Sita also suffers from cheesy dialogues that corrupts the portrayal further. Imagine one of Sita’s responses to Ravana in Ashok Vatika is ”Ye kesa prem hay, Ravana? Mujhe koi aisi cheez do jo kuch din chale.” (What love is this, Ravana? Give me something that lasts for days).

Two more castings raised the eyebrows. One was Saif Ali Khan as Ravana and Devdatta Nage as Bajrang Bali. I dont have knowledge from what family did Ravana belong to but Adipurush’s Ravana, with his spiky hairstyle and Muslim beard, definitely comes from the house of Targaryen who instead of riding a dragon rides a gargoyle-like bat. Ravana’s original ride was called Pushpaka Vimana which was a flying chariot. So I am unsure what caused to change the ride whereas Pushpak Vimana was shown for a few seconds when Hauman flies to Sita. And then the bizarre alignment of Ravana’s heads in such an outrageous CGI. The ten heads of Ravana, if I am not wrong, always appears in one horizontal parallel. This is the first time, I see a 5×5 dramatizing of Ravana’s heads.

The portrayal of Hanuman is a joke. Neither the right actor was picked nor the physique was muscular enough to hand him over the mace. Plus, the dialogues he uttered were garbage. I felt that Devdatta was trying to be a silly Hanuman. But in any case, the makers surely had a lot of muscular choices for Hanuman. Overall, the casting on that massive budget needs an inquiry. Vatsal Sheth? Sonal Chauhan?

ZERO AESTHETICS

Adipurush doesn’t have a soul for magnificence in visual artistry or storytelling. I feel director Om Raut was being extremely lazy in giving a better look at this ancient world. A viewer cannot watch and say if the aesthetics are inspired. Almost every creativity in Adipurush will remind you of something and make you convince that the makers copied. Ravana Targaryen’s Westeros has striking resemblance with Marvel‘s Asgard. The legend is that Ravana’s Lanka was made of gold. Adipurush’s Lanka is made of coal. Almost everything is coal black. Bollywood has a tendency to dark the tone in the film when the world of the antagonist has to be portrayed as hell. But there is a level. Adipurush’s Lanka is more than elite level.

Not only that but Ravana Targaryen has an army of Orcs borrowed straight from Tolkien or perhaps Peter Jackson. There are a few sequences of Ravana Targaryen riding on his bat that will remind you the flights of the Witchking of Angmar.

Ravana’s son is one of the worst characterizations in the film. Those who have watched Vatsal Sheth giving a B-grade performance of Ravana’s son but doesn’t understand his value. Let me inform you what Indrajit meant in Ramayana. My research says that this guy nearly destroyed the race of vanara when he killed 670 million Vanaras in a single day. Vanara is the race of ape-people from where Hanuman belongs. They were created by Brahma to help Rama defeat Ravana.

Another legend is that Indrajit defeated both Rama and Lakshmana not once but twice in Ramayana. Plus, no warrior possessed all the three Trimurti astras other than Indrajit. Om Raut destroyed this character by making him the Lankan speedster Indrajit Allen aka The Flash. If I am not wrong, there is no mention of Indrajit being a speedster.

The vanara king Sugriva is a shameless replica of Caesar from the Planet of the Apes trilogy. Not only that, the dramatizing of the vanaras will precisely remind you of the Bandar Log from The Jungle Book. The jaw-dropping throat slitting scene is brutal false as that never occurred in Ramayana.

There is a sequence where Rama, Lakshmana, and a few vanaras are surrounded by the army of Orcs just like before the start of the Battle of Black Gate in The Lord of the Rings. And then comes a shot of the heroes warming up for the fight exactly like the first assembling of The Avengers.

In the beginning, two universes collide when Adipurush’s Rama fights against Harry Potter‘s Dementors. Whatever those creatures were, had no part in Ramayana.

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WTF IS YOUR MESSAGE???

The laziness of filmmakers is so plentiful that the most controversial dialogue of the film ‘Jali Tere Baap Ki‘ which itself is so subpar to listen is taken from a spiritual motivational speaker, Amogh Lila Prabhu. He uttered Hanuman’s entire dialogue in one of his addresses with using the word ‘Ravana’ instead of baap.

Can you imagine the sages, deities, or the most respectful figures of some mythology or faith, to whom millions or billions of people dedicate their lives or respect to its zenith, speak such cringe, low-level, or pedestrian dialogues? And in all honesty, it is not funny for people of any faith. Imagine a Christian or Jewish film being highly disrespectful and inaccurate. As a Muslim, I will not tolerate if a film is based from the times of Muhammad and instead of depicting the true soul of the story, make the joke out of it.

Om Raut wrote and directed Adipurush, Manoj Muntashir wrote the dialogues. They shamelessly defended against all the criticism. Ramayana is such an incredible story and its live-action adaptation deserved a very careful planning to transform it into a live-action. There must be inquiry about the film’s production cost because with almost zero creativity and cheap editing resulting into one of the worst VFX results from an assumed ₹500-crore budget film questions the authenticity of truth. This film is no way more than ₹50 crore at all. Perhaps, a half of this budget is Prabhas’ pay for the film.

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CLOSING REMARKS

Adipurush lacks the emotional value that would show the cultural and religious significance of the Hinduism. It just doesn’t remind you of the core or some essence in which Ramayana is valued to the hearts of the viewers but a three-hour Western portfolio and re-imagination of the ancient India unsuccessfully and unfaithfully resetting that war between good and evil.

Without watching any Ramayana or related show, I can blindly tell you that Adipurush is the last thing to remember for a Hindu content and unfortunately an unforgettable project for the wrongest possible reasons. If Om Raut and Manoj Muntashir are alive, that is only because they are Hindus. There is no excuse of this insult.

Those who want to try Adipurush, at your own risk. I wasted my three hours on the film and three days working on this content as a blogger and vlogger because this is my work. But you, let me save your 173 minutes and recommend you watching a 7-minute bhajan from Swades called ‘Pal Pal Hai Bhaari‘. That has music, poetry, essence of Ram, and Sita’s devotion.

Adipurush is a cinematic disaster which is lost in translation of the scripture that is sacred to the billions.

RATING 1/10

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Movie Review: The Revenant (2015)

Ok first gold diggings in Grasberg!

Did grizzly bear folked Mr. Hugh DiCaprio???

 A big NO. The real event propels you that Hugh Glass, the leading character of the movie played by Leonardo DiCaprio, was attacked by a female bear.

Now why did I begin my review this way??? Because many of us were actually concerned that we will watch sex-scene between Baloo and Mowgli but the rumor was awful.

Now what makes the movie special? I would rather replace the word ‘special’ with superior. The answer is EVERYTHING!!! Consider DiCaprio/Hardy performances, AGI’s direction, fighting sequences, cinematography, costume designing, bear attack, Frontiers vs Native Americans and many more. The movie is superlative.

The only concern pushing towards minus is its accuracy, the accuracy of Hugh Glass’ legacy, the accuracy of bear attack, the accuracy of Glass’ survival, the accuracy of attack by Native Americans on the expeditions team. There has been a lot of confusion over the legacy of the story. There are not a lot of authentic sources to prove what part of story is true or false. Most specifically the tragic bear attack which was witnessed by no buddy but the victim himself.

Let me reflect and justify my very first line of this review. A huge focus in the movie has been on antagonist John Fitzgerald played by Tom Hardy killing Hugh Glass’ son Hawk, which leads him to revenge upon survival attempt. The whole movie grows on his miracle survival from a likely death so that he finishes him. Sadly the core of the story is pure fiction. Forget Fitz killing his son, there is no proof that Hugh Glass had any child. Hawk being of mixed-race is an invalid question or typing error. Glass’ marriage with Native-American woman also has doubts because historic details are still unsure if Hugh Glass really was once captured by Pawnees where he found her, loved and married.

So if there is no evidence of Hawk being Hugh Glass’ son then with simple understanding there is no revenge on Fitz for killing his son. In fact the legacy is that when Glass received mortal wounds after bear attacks, expedition leader Captain Andrew Henry, played by Domhnall Gleeson in movie, pays two men to stay behind the soon-to-be-dead body of Hugh Glass until his death to give him a Christian burial. To add the spice, movie further shows Hawk volunteering the payee leading to his murder by agitated Fitz.

Some scenes agreeable with the facts are;

• Hugh Glass was a fur trapper and the bear attack occurred near the banks of the Grand River of South Dakota. He did come across two bear cubs until big momma had her say. The female grizzly bear did break his leg and punctured his throat.
• Hugh Glass was indeed dropped behind to die by the two men, Fitz and young Jim Bridger, played by Will Poulter due to the harsh fact that he wasn’t breathing his last for several days. Further confirmation is that both guys placed him in a grave, collected his weapons and off they go.

Further diggings confirm that the Native Americans depicted in the movie are the tribe of North Dakota, Arikara who suffered a high rate of fatalities from smallpox epidemics resulting in drastic fall in their population back in 18^th century. Years later they moved between South and North of Dakota.

Enough of history!!! Now let me strive to focus on the movie….

What makes Hollywood cinematic industry so special than the others??? No not that Hollywood belongs to the United States. Actually, Hollywood introduces you to people from different diversities and backgrounds that cook and bring their ingredients in their kitchens to display a delicious food and bring a change in taste for the consumers. Now ‘The Revenant’ shows United States of the early 19^th century and the story is based on a frontier legend who met his sorry fate after attack launched by Native Americans. And this movie is directed by a guy who has lived all his life in Mexico. Some great minds present great movies in great ways.

Alejandro González Iñárritu was the first Mexican-born director to have won Best Director in Cannes Films Festival for Babel. Years later he became only third director after John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath 1940, How Green Was My Valley 1941) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives 1949, All About Eve 1950) to win back to back Academy Awards (Birdman 2014, The Revenant 2015), and the first since 1950.

AGI had a splendid vision to present The Revenant and is obvious in his powerful direction. Many scenes are eye-opener like I am repeatedly mentioning attack on the expeditions team by Native Americans and Hugh Glass many phases of survival. But the best among all is the bear attack which will easily shut you up. This scene is built on your nerves. The human abuse is shot in a way that you would feel if the beast is skinning you.

I must say the VFX team has done magnificent choreography of this attack. It is not only that the viewer has a look at this brutal beating; the whole animal behavior is carefully read. Watch step by step, the way cubs are made feel unprotected, the way momma bear responds and attacks the gunman, the way the beatings begin i.e., stepping over and throwing all mighty weight on Glass, grabbing by mouth and swinging, then throwing on ground and gashing him. This shows the bear-behavior was carefully studied by all the involved makers.

The ‘sympathy’ factor for both human and animal is challenged because the attack scene has two consecutive parts connected in one-shot frame. First the mother bear attacks with understanding that gunman will kill the cubs and leaves later. But then the gunman tries to survive by shooting at mother bear and turning the other face of coin with sympathy where mother bear and gunman becomes villainous in their ways concluding with animal killing while trying to save her cubs. One of the best dramatic scenes I have watched in recent years!!!

One of the most remarkable aspects of the movie is that the whole movie is shot in natural light without the use of CGI which made the life of working crew worse than hell as some parts of shooting in Canada met unexpected fall in temperature to -25C. During the times when Canada met shortage of snow, the whole shooting was in fact shifted to Argentina. This showed life-and-death commitment to present ‘REALISM’ in the picture for which they crossed most of the limits.

The director himself stated in one interview to prefer natural light over CGI this way, “Everybody was frozen, the equipment was breaking; to get the camera from one place to another was a nightmare. If we ended up in green screen with coffee and everybody having a good time, everybody will be happy, but most likely the film would be a piece of shit.”

There is no dispute after hard sacrifice in the beauty of making this movie. When the viewers watch this in one frame, the presentation is natural and folking brilliant. Like Birdman, we will again watch some spectacular lengthy one-shot scenes confirming AGI directional class.

Besides deserving award-winning direction, the whole movie is also build on two powerful performances. Tom Hardy’s character of Fitzgerald is foxy and full of rage who opposes Glass’ advice to abandon the vessel and march on foot after Native Americans’ attack. He digs reasons to oppose him and watch for a better moment to kill him. I would say Glass/Fitz are the bestest combination of plus and minus whose characters are made to oppose each other. Despite many inaccuracies in the movie, Hardy’s character gives reasons of bringing balance between the two. Being in limelight of his career, Tom Hardy has another well-reputed performance in his CV. Due to much change in locations and shooting dates, Tom Hardy left a well-fitted Suicide Squad role of Rick Flag character to complete The Revenant without delay.

Leonardo DiCaprio ended his long-curse in Oscar functions by finally winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his leading role in the movie. He has many marvelous performances to his acting credits and easily is one of the greatest actors of his generation to have worked with many great directors like Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino, Nolan, Eastwood, Mendes, Scott, Allen, Boyle and Cameron which is quite rare in any filmography.

Keeping his whole acting career under scrutiny, it is easy to pick this role as the toughest of all the roles he has done in the past. The portrayal is highly physical than his dialogues. All judgment is based on his survival mode where he drops himself into icy water, eating raw bison liver (LDC is vegetarian btw) and sleeping in horse carcass. He even wore that bear skin in most of the scenes which was real and brought from a park department in Canada. More to a misery, the skin weighted over 100 pounds. And while attempting all such dares, he maintained his acting stance. Full marks to his performance.

The Revenant is the answer to the finest filmmaking. Decades later, critics will easily pick this movie among the best things happened in cinematic industry. I would like to congrats the whole crew for the perfect and deserving outcome. Also I would like to pay my special thanks to the readers who reached here reading a whole lengthy review till the conclusion. Perhaps some special movies deserve a lot of writing.

Ratings: 9.2/10

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