Prabhas, Kriti Sanon’s Adipurush releases today. A timeline of the film’s announcement, postponements and controversies
First Published: 16th June, 2023 10:58 IST
While the film might just have been in its first-day first-show phase as you read this, trade analysts are of the belief that Adipurush has already won it big
ai Shri Ram.. Jai Shri Ram.. Jai Shri Ram Raja Ram.. The day that all you Prabhas fans have been waiting for is finally here. Adipurush has finally seen the light of the day after multiple delays and controversies. While the film might just have been in its first-day first-show phase as you read this, trade analysts are of the belief that Adipurush has already won it big.
All thanks to the star cast comprising Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, postponements and the many controversies it followed, Adipurush was never out of the buzz. As they say, any kind of publicity is healthy for a film. It stands true for Adipurush too. As the film dawns on theatres on June 16, we bring to you a timeline that comprises Adipurush’s announcement, postponements and the many controversies it swam past, reported India Today.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
Adipurush’s first announcement came in September 2020 and the shooting commenced. Initially, the makers announced that the film will hit theatres on August 11, 2022. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the shooting and the filming got postponed. After announcing the lead star cast in the form of Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh in pivotal roles, production house UV Creations, on September 30, 2022, dropped posters of Prabhas as Ram and unveiled the film’s release date. ‘January 12, 2023’, it said.
Later, they released the film’s first teaser, which created a commotion on social media as people made fun of the film’s poor VFX.
THE POSTPONEMENTS
Adipurush was looked upon as the film that would lay a strong foundation for the film industry in a bright new year. After a lot of back and forth, it was first slated for release on January 12, 2023. However, in November last year, director Om Raut announced that the film’s release had been postponed by six months, ‘to give a complete visual experience to the viewers’ after the teaser was trolled.
Confirming the same, Om Raut, in a note posted on November 7, wrote, “Adipurush is not a film, but a representation of our devotion to Prabhu Shri Ram and commitment towards our sanskriti and history. In order to give a complete visual experience to the viewers, we need to give more time to the teams working on the film. Adipurush will now release on June 16, 2023. We are committed to make a film that India will be proud of. Your support, love and blessings is what keeps us going (sic).”
There were no more delays thereafter.
THE CONTROVERSIES
Saif as Ravana
Saif Ali Khan plays Lankesh in the film. When the teaser was first unveiled, his appearance did not go down well with netizens. Some even said that he looked more like Taimur AKA Timur, the Mughal invader.
A Twitter user compared Saif’s looks to Khilji and wrote, “This movie is an insult to Ramayan Firstly why are Ravan and Hanuman not wearing Mukut? What kind of hair cut is Saif given?he’s looking like Khilji Ravan was one of d wisest Bramhin can’t see his Janva Pls stop hurting our sentiments #DisappointingAdipurish #AadiPurush (sic).”
Saif Ali Khan’s apology
The birth of Adipurush and its controversies date back to as many as three years! In a throwback interview with Mumbai Mirror, Saif Ali Khan said, “It’s interesting to play a demon king, less strictures in that. But we will make him humane, up the entertainment quotient, justify his abduction of Sita and the war with Ram as revenge for what was done to his sister Surpanakha by Lakshman, who cut off his nose.” This statement didn’t go down well with a section of netizens and this led to a social media uproar.
Later, Saif issued a statement in this regard, which can be read, “I’ve been made aware that one of my statements during an interview, has caused a controversy and hurt people’s sentiments. This was never my intention or meant that way. I would like to sincerely apologise to everybody and withdraw my statement. Lord Ram has always been the symbol of Righteousness & Heroism for me. Adipurush is about celebrating the victory of good over evil and the entire team is working together to present the epic without any distortions.”
Poor VFX
When the teaser of the film was first unveiled in October 2022, it sparked a meme-fest on Twitter. While some called it Temple Run 4, others said it looked cartoon-ish. Some even compared Adipurush’s VFX to Game of Thrones and Jaani Dushman.
Here are some of the memes that did rounds last year:
Plagiarism rows
When the poster of Adipurush unveiled last year than a Maharashtra-based animation firm called out the makers for plagiarism. They claimed that the film’s poster was copied from an animated film titled Lord Shiva.
Also, a concept artist named Pratik Sanghar took to Facebook and accused the Adipurush team of copying his designs. “I am a concept artist from India. I made my exploration for Lord Shri Ram’s possible looks for a Ramayan Epic if it were ever to be made. This was around a year ago. And the official concept artist working on Adipurush literally stole my artwork mix matched it with my similar artwork and called it their own that too without informing me or providing me any compensation. This is one of the reasons for the failure of such a project. People working on it have no passion or love for the project instead they are finding and using cheap tricks to make this project,” Sanghar wrote in his note.
The concept artist went on to add, “I will provide link to my original artwork and the artworks they have posted if they aren’t already taken down. I took the screen shots because I knew they will take it down and pretend nothing happened.”
Ban calls
Of late, no films have been able to evade ban calls and Adipurush too, was one of them. In spite of its humongous popularity, the film became victim to ban calls. As per PTI, a plea was filed by advocate Raj Gaurav in October 2022, as he sought a permanent and mandatory injunction against defendants, producer Bhushan Kumar and director and co-producer Om Raut. He alleged they had manipulated the basics of the epic Ramayana.
“The defendants have hurt the religious, cultural, historical and civilizational sentiments of the plaintiff and other Hindus by the depiction of Hindu gods Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman in a very unwarranted and inaccurate way in the teaser or promotional video of their upcoming movie Adipurush,” the plea claimed.
Om Raut kisses Kriti Sanon in Tirupati temple premises
Team Adipurush unveiled the final trailer of the film in Tirumala on June 9 and it was a spectacular show. The next day, director Om Raut and Kriti Sanon were spotted at Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirupati for darshan. In a video that went viral, the filmmaker can be seen kissing Kriti on her cheek as he bid her goodbye. This didn’t go down well with a section of netizens and BJP State Secretary Ramesh Naidu Nagothu, who first commented against it, and later deleted his tweet.
Having said that, Adipurush received its expected hype and is now running successfully in theatres. When do you plan to watch Prabhas’ film?
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