Adipurush controversy | OG Lakshman Sunil Lahri questions: Did they spend 500 crore on the snakes or the monkeys? | Exclusive

Ever since the time the makers of ‘Adipurush’ released the film’s trailer, the film has been making news… mostly for the wrong reasons. Be it the film’s dialogues which were found to be objectionable or even the inappropriate representation of the film’s character, the film has definitely irked and rubbed the sentiments of the cinegoers in a wrong manner. The latest update is that, after the backlash, the makers have now modified the objectionable dialogues in the film. For example, the dialogues in the scene where the term ‘baap’ was used, it has been replaced by ‘Lanka’. The intensity of the controversy has now grown to such an extent that many places in Kathmandu, Pokhara and even Mumbai are refusing to screen the film and also there have been reported death threats received by the film’s writer Manoj Muntashir and director Om Raut.

Amidst all this, we, at OTTplay, managed to speak to Sunil Lahri, who is considered as the ‘OG Lakshman’ in the epic and flawless serial of the yesteryear Ramayan, who was definitely mighty upset about the whole ‘Adipurush’ episode. Speaking exclusively to OTTPlay, Sunil Lahri said, “After I saw the film ‘Adipurush’, I realised that the makers had not made a film that has been inspired by ‘Ramayan’, something that they had repeatedly claimed. In the name of Ramayan’s remake, they (the film’s makers) have landed up making a mockery of Ramayan. This is NOT AT ALL DONE. After everything, now, they are changing their statements and are saying that they got ‘inspired’ by Ramayan”.

Is ‘Adipurush’ really ‘inspired’ by ‘Ramayan’?
Sunil said, “My question to the makers (of ‘Adipurush’) is that, if you are only ‘inspired’ by Ramayan, then, why take all the situations of Ramayan in the first place. There are situations like Kaikai’s name, Ramphal (although it was for one shot only) ‘vanvaas’ (exile), Mantra’s utterance, sequence of cutting of the nose, killing of the deer, drawing of Laxmanrekha and many more … all of these are totally Ramayan. Where is the question of being ‘inspired’ by and from Ramayan, when all of these (incidents) occur in Ramayan itself!”

Also Read: Adipurush OTT release: When can you expect Prabhas' epic drama to arrive on streaming? 

Makers only self-defending themselves by claiming ‘Adipurush’ being inspired by Ramayana
Sunil Lahri added, “As far as the makers’ claims are concerned about them having made a film that has been inspired from and by Ramayan, they are saying as a self-defence only to save themselves. They had even put a Disclaimer initially whereby they had clearly mentioned that they have taken it (the film’s story) from Valmiki Ramayan). My question is that, if the film was only inspired from Ramayan, then, why show Ravan as somebody with ten heads!

Characterisation in the film
When asked about the film’s characterisation, which also has become one of the talking points of late, Sunil said, “Even the costumes of the characters are totally negative. The film’s scenes neither have any clarity of character’s characterisation, nor have the makers defined the characters. Ram and Laxman look almost the same, just with little difference though. Ravan and Meghnath also look the same. I really felt no difference between the characters of Ravan, Meghnath and Kumbhkaran. It took time for me to understand who is who in the storyline!”

Also Read: Adipurush: Watch Prabhas starrer in cinemas or wait for its OTT release? 

Objectionable dialogues like ‘Kapda tere baap ka’
Sunil, then, also addressed the issue about the objectionable dialogues which were mouth by the character who played Lord Hanuman. Sunil said, “There is immense shraddha (devotion) and maanyata (faith) in Lord Hanuman ji across our country. But, in the film, the makers have shown Hanumanji’s character mouthing absurd lines like ‘Kapda tere baap ka, oil teri baap ka, aag teri baap ki to jalegi bhi tere baap ki’!). Who are they trying to show this to? Were they trying to teach the children about Hanumanji by telling dialogues in language like this? Let me tell you one thing. The film just doesn’t justify anything. Neither it falls under the old classic nor its a modern day Ramayan”.

Once the damages are done, means it’s done
When we asked Sunil Lahri about his take on the film’s makers apologising for the dialogues and re-writing certain dialogues in the film, Sunil explained it with an example. He said, “If a person stabs another person and then seeks apology, will the person become ok? Once the damages are done, means its done. The makers have already hurt the sentiments of the audience. They have no right to hurt the sentiments of the audience and play with that”.

Is the film’s budget really Rs. 500 crores?
When we asked Sunil about his opinion on the film’s budget being claimed as ‘Rs. 500 crores’, the actor said, “If at all they have spent that much money, then, it is sheer foolishness. And if at all, they have not spent that much amount and are claiming that they have spent, it only means that they are making a fool of the audience.

No proof to be produced of the expenditure of Rs. 500 crores!
While on the topic of the film’s staggering budget of Rs. 500 crores, Sunil drove home his point with an apt example. He said, “If a man constructs a house for Rs. 3 crores, and then, he goes on to claim that he had spent Rs. 7 crores on the construction of the house, he can freely do that because, he owes no explanation to anyone regarding how much he paid for the carpenter, mason, electrician and others. Likewise for the film ‘Adipurush’. If the makers claim that they had spent a huge sum of Rs. 500 crores, I think it’s nothing but a marketing strategy… the way I look at it”.

Did the makers spend that huge amount on snakes or monkeys?
Sunil said, “In the film, there is no kingdom, no fireworks, no palace. In short, there is nothing that will justify the amount of Rs. 500 crores. In that case, on what and on who, did the makers spend that much amount? Was it on the snakes’ scene or on the monkeys?”

Distinguished names making a mockery of our culture?
When you have distinguished names like Manoj Muntashir, Prasoon Joshi, director Om Raut- the very man who had made ‘Tanhaji’, and then, you land up making a mockery of our own culture… then, it’s really very shameful. If an outsider makes a mockery of our system, it’s still understandable on the basis of the fact that he may not know our cultural background.

A ray of light amidst the controversies galore?
Amidst all these controversies galore, Sunil saw a ray of light in the form of the film ‘Adipurush’ uniting people across. He said, “The film has at least shown that the country is united (in times like these). I feel that, even for other social causes, the country should get united like the same way they came together for the film”.