Adipurush trailer: From bad VFX to plagiarism row, know about Prabhas, Kriti Sanon's film controversies

By Team Newsable | First Published May 9, 2023, 12:57 PM IST

Prabhas and Saif Ali Khan's Adipurush has landed in many controversies, ranging from plagiarism to hurting religious sentiments—the trailer releases on May 9, 2023. – By Mahasweta Sarkar

Om Raut's Adipurush is an adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana, which occasionally has faced controversies and problems. Adipurush has been in the headlines for being criticised for terrible VFX and for hurting religious sentiments. The trailer for the film is set to be released on May 9. Let's look at the number of issues that the film has sparked before the trailer's release.

This Om Raut-directed movie also features Saif Ali Khan and Kriti Sanon and will be released in theatres on June 16 in multiple languages. Here is a list of the controversies that Adipurush stirred up:

Ravan’s humane side
In 2021, Saif Ali Khan commenting on his role in Adipurush, said that the film would bring out the humanity in Ravan. This led to a huge uproar, and Saif later apologised, saying, “I would like to apologise to everybody and withdraw my statement sincerely. Lord Ram has always been the symbol of Righteousness and Heroism for me. Adipurush is about celebrating the victory of good over evil.”

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His comments caused a huge uproar and he had to apologise later. In a statement, he said, "I would like to sincerely apologise to everybody and withdraw my statement. Lord Ram has always been the symbol of Righteousness and Heroism for me. Adipurush is about celebrating the victory of good over evil."

Plagiarism accusation
Prabhas’ poster as Lord Ram brought accusations of plagiarism on the filmmakers. The animation studio, Vaanar Sena Studios, accused the Adipurush team of copying their work.

They said on social media, "It’s disappointing to see our work being copied like this. But over the years, it’s happened so many times that it’s just funny at this point. We don’t see the point of fighting this as we’d rather focus on bringing you guys awesome content and continue on building that road. But maybe just maybe, the word will spread :) (sic)."

This year a concept artist, Pratik Sanghar, said that the Adipurush team has been copying designs. As per reports, Sanghar wrote, “…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.”

Trolled for VFX
In 2022, when Adipurush’s teaser was launched, it got badly trolled for its poor VFX. As a result of this, the filmmakers had to push the release date of the film from January to June, to re-works on the visual effects of the movie.

Called out on inaccuracies
Post the teaser release, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that Adipurush has wrongly depicted Hindus, which is unacceptable. The Minister told PTI, “The dresses and look of Hindu deities as seen in the trailer were not acceptable. Hanuman ji is shown wearing leather, whereas the description (in the scriptures) of the deity's costume is different. These are scenes that hurt religious sentiments.”

A complaint was filed against the makers of Adipurush on April 5, 2023, under Section 295 (A), 298, 500, 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR said that the lead characters were not wearing Janeu as per what is in the holy book of Ramacharitamanas.

Accused of Islamisation of Ramayana
The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, in a notice to the makers of Adipurush said, “This film is a complete Islamisation of Ramayana and of Lord Ram, Maa Sita, Lord Hanuman. Even Saif Ali Khan, who is playing the role of Ravana in the Adipurush movie, looks like Taimur and Khilji. The film will spread hatred among a particular class by inciting religious sentiments in the country.”

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