Om Raut’s Adipurush, the latest mythological drama based on the Ramayana, has kicked off a massive political storm, with many political leaders — from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party to the Shiv Sena (UBT) — objecting to its portrayal of Lord Hanuman.
Alleging an attempt was made to tarnish the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman in the movie, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced that the state government would consider banning the film, if the public demanded it.
Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh on Monday said she was hopeful that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel would ban the movie in the state.
The Lok Sabha member from Surguja in Chhattisgarh claimed that the sentiments of millions of people had been hurt by the portrayal of the characters of Lord Ram, Maata Janki and Lord Hanuman in the film besides from the terrible dialogues.
“I hope Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will soon issue an order banning this movie in the maternal home of Lord Shri Ram,” she added.
On Saturday, a handful of members of ‘Korea Sahitya Avam Kala Manch’ reached a complex in Manendragarh town in Chhattisgarh and staged a demonstration in front of a theatre screening the movie, PTI reported.
Manch member Anamika Chakraborty, who led the protest, said the name ‘Adipurush’ itself is misleading.
“The film is based on Ramayana and Lord Ram was ‘maryada purushottam’ not ‘Adipurush’. This film is sending a very wrong message to society and misleading our young generation. This movie is a plot against Sanatan Dharma,” she alleged and demanded that screening of this movie be stopped in the country immediately.
Chakraborty claimed the way in which the characters of Ravan and Lord Hanuman are portrayed in the film was shameful.
Youth Congress workers in Chhattisgarh hanged the effigies of Om Raut and the film’s dialogue writer, Manoj Muntashir in protest against the film’s dialogue.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh claimed on Saturday that by “promoting and supporting” the Bollywood film, the central government as well as the BJP are “insulting” the Hindu religion.
“In which Ramayan, shoddy, cheap, street language has been used? Can anything be shown about Lord Rama, Ma Sita and Lord Hanuman on the basis of imagination? BJP neither believes in Hindu religion, nor does it believe in Lord Ram. It has nothing to do with Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas,” he fumed.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also came down heavily on the makers of the film for allegedly using “pedestrian dialogues”.
Chaturvedi demanded an apology from the film’s makers and said that the dialogues were disrespectful to the characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
“The dialogue writer of ‘Adipurush’ @manojmuntashir, as well as the director, should apologise to the nation for the pedestrian dialogues written for the movie, especially for Lord Hanuman,” Chaturvedi tweeted.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Muntashir, requested security from the Mumbai police. The police department has granted protection to the writer and is actively probing the case, reported ANI. On Sunday, the writer stated that the team has decided to change the dialogues that have offended people.