Will revise dialogues that hurt sentiments: 'Adipurush' dialogue writer
Mumbai (PTI): "Adipurush" dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla on Sunday said the makers of the mythological epic film have decided to "revise some of the dialogues", after the Prabhas-starrer was criticised heavily for its pedestrian language.
Shukla, who has penned the Hindi dialogues and songs of the retelling of the Ramayana, said the amended lines will be added to the film by this week.
"...For me there is nothing greater than your feelings. I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not lessen your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that we will revise some of the dialogues which are hurting you and they will be added to the film this week," Shukla said in a statement shared on his official Twitter account.
"Adipurush", which was released across the country in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil on Friday, stars Prabhas as Raghav (Ram), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita) and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Raavan).
Directed by Om Raut and produced by T-Series, big-budget multilingual saga "Adipurush" has been panned on social media over its poor VFX and colloquial dialogues, with Shukla under fire for Lord Hanuman's dialogues in the 'Lanka Dahan' sequence, among others.
Many viewers and political party leaders pointed out the oversimplified language used by the characters, especially Bajrang (Hanuman) played by Devdatta Nage.
In his statement, which he wrote in Hindi, Shukla said it is possible that in a three-hour film he may have written "something different from your imagination for 3 minutes of duration", but viewers shouldn't hurry to label him as a "Sanatan drohi".
"The first lesson one can learn from Ramkatha is to respect every emotion. What is right or wrong changes with time, but the feeling is constant.
"I wrote more than 4,000 lines as dialogues in 'Adipurush', some sentiments got hurt on five of those lines. In those hundreds of lines, where Shri Ram was glorified, Maa Sita's chastity was described, I was hoping to receive praise for them, which I don't know why I did not get," he added.
The writer-lyricist, who won the National Film Award for best lyrics in "Saina", said he had no complaints with the audience.
"If we stand against each other, Sanatan will lose. We have made 'Adipurush' for Sanatan Seva, it's a film which you are watching in large numbers and I believe you will watch in future as well," he further said.
Later, T-Series said the team has decided to make alterations to the dialogues of "Adipurush" in order to value "the input of the public".
"'Adipurush' is garnering an overwhelming response across the world and is conquering hearts of audiences across all ages. Making this visual spectacle a memorable cinematic experience, the team decides to make alterations to the film's dialogues Valuing the input of the public and the audience," the banner said in a separate statement.
The makers are revisiting the said dialogues, ensuring to resonate with core essence of the film and the same will reflect in the theatres in the next few days, said T-Series.
"This decision is a testament that in spite of unstoppable collections at the Box Office, the team is committed and nothing is beyond the sentiments of their audiences and harmony at large," the production house added.
Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 500 crore, "Adipurush" has raised Rs 240 crore in two days, the makers claimed.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
