Mumbai (PTI): "Adipurush" dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla extended his "unconditional apology" for hurting people's emotions.

The Prabhas-starrer mythological epic film, directed by Om Raut, was criticised heavily for its pedestrian language upon its release last month. The film's team, including Shukla, announced days later that they have decided to "revise some of the dialogues".

On Saturday, the dialogue writer said he accepts that "Adipurush" has hurt people's sentiments.

"I accept that people's emotions have been hurt by 'Adipurush'. With folded hands, I extend my unconditional apology," Shukla, who has penned the Hindi dialogues and songs of the retelling of the Ramayana, wrote on Twitter.

"May Prabhu Bajrang Bali keep us united and grant us strength to serve our sacred Sanatan and our great nation. #Adipurush" he added.

"Adipurush", which was released across the country in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil in June, stars Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan).

Produced by T-Series, the big-budget multilingual saga was panned on social media over its poor VFX and colloquial dialogues, with many political parties demanding a ban on the film's screening.

In Nepal, the film was banned over its dialogue referring to Sita as India's daughter.

The film, reportedly mounted on a budget of Rs 500 crore, earned Rs 340 crore in first three days but the box office collections went significantly down after the opening weekend. So far, it has raised over Rs 450 crore.

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Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.

“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.

Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.

“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”

The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.

On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.

Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.

“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.

Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.

“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”

Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.