Adipurush movie review: Director Om Raut serves dragon-sized disappointment with his Marvel-ified version of Ramayana starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh and Devdatta Nage.
Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Vatsal Seth, Siddhant Karnick, Tejaswwini Pandit, Sonal Chauhan
Director: Om Raut
Writers: Om Raut, Manoj Muntashir (dialogues)
“Raavan aa raha hoon nyay ke do pairon se anyay ke das sar kuchal ne, aa raha hoon apni janaki ko lejaane, aa raha hoon adharm ka vidhwans karne,” Raghava (Prabhas) makes a mighty proclamation as he sets out to rescue his wife Janaki from the clutches of the mighty demon king Lankesh (Saif Ali Khan).
If only director Om Raut’s execution of one of India’s most loved epics on the celluloid, had an ounce of this ‘spirit’, Adipurush would have been a huge victory!
What’s Yay: Few scenes like Jatayu’s attempt to stop Lankesh and save Janaki and Raghav’s anger against Varuna, the God of Seas, Ajay-Atul’s music
What’s Nay: Messy execution, undignified dialogues at several places
Story
At the beginning of Adipurush, director Om Raut takes help of illustrations to give a quick account of Raghav (Prabhas) breaking the Shiv dhanush during Janaki’s (Kriti Sanon) swayamvar, their nuptials, followed by Raghav’s exile from Ayodhya at the insistence of his stepmother Kaikeyi.
The film starts with Lankesh (Saif Ali Khan) receiving the boon of invincibility from Lord Brahma after a tough penance in the snow. Soon, we get a heroic introduction of Raghav as a slayer of Rakshasas in the forests where he seeks refuge with his brother Shesh (Sunny Singh) and wife Janaki during the exile period.
After Raghava turns down the proposal of a lovestruck Suparnakha (Tejaswwini Pandit), the shape-shifting demoness-sister of Lankesh, the latter tries to harm Janaki. Her attack is thwarted by Shesh who cuts off her nose as a retribution for her attack on Janaki. An incensed Suparnakha lands up at her brother’s mansion and provokes him to abduct Janaki.
Lankesh comes up with a treacherous plan where he seeks help from Marich who transforms himself into a golden deer and lures Raghav and then Shesh into the deep forests. Meanwhile, finding Janaki all alone, Lankesh disguises himself as an ascetic. He tricks her into crossing the Lakshman Rekha and abducts her. What follows next is a battle between good vs evil.
Direction
While director Om Raut scores a point for his ambition to retell Ramayana on a massive scale, the happiness is short-lived as he soon lets his attempt for larger than life visuals overshadow the essence of this sacred text. Even though he makes it clear with a disclaimer that he has taken some creative liberties in his storytelling, the deviation in the backdrop and characterization is a bit too much to handle.
For example, he trades off Lankesh’s Pushpaka Vimana for a flesh-devouring gigantic bat. There’s no ‘sone ki Lanka’. What you get instead is Lankesh’s Gothic-inspired abode and his army of trolls, death eaters and monstrous creatures. There’s Janaki resting under cherry blossoms in Ashok vatika and Lankesh’s son Indrajit channeling his inner Flash. Not to forget, some of the vaanars even look like King Kong!
The biggest letdown of Adipurush is the lack of soul in it. Raut spends so much time in scaling up his film that he barely notices the emotions taking their last dying breath. In order to cater to Gen-Z, he draws heavy inspiration from western outings like Avengers, Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter And The Deadly Gallows-Part 2, to name a few. Unfortunately, this only makes Adipurush look like a hotchpotch of superhero films with sub-par CGI.
Performances
Prabhas tries to pass off his deadpan expressions as calm and composed, and the live animation makes it even worse. With Sharad Kelkar dubbing for him, the Baahubali vibe is simply too difficult to shake off at a few places. Kriti Sanon looks dainty as a damsel in distress, just the way Suparnakha describes her beauty to her brother. Sadly, she barely gets any scope to perform. Sunny Singh’s Shesh with a Punjabi twang is a misfire.
Devdatta Nage is passable as Bajrang until you hear him speak in Bambaiyya lingo with dialogues like ‘Kapda tere baap ka. Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki.’ Saif Ali Khan who was phenomenal as Udaybhan in Om Raut’s Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, struggles with his unidimensional character of ten-headed Lankesh here. Instead of giving us a glimpse of his might and intellect combined, the director simply reduces him to a towering blue-eyed demon king with a maniacal laugh and the gait of a Hulk.
Vatsal Seth as Lankesh’s son Indrajit suffers from amateurish execution. Siddhant Karnick who plays Vibhishan does his job well. The same holds true for Tejaswwini Pandit (Suparnakha) and Sonal Chauhan as Lankesh’s wife Mandodari (in a minuscule role).
Technical Aspects
Karthick Palani uses low angle shots to build heroism around Prabhas’ Raghav. On the other hand, the extreme close-up shots are reserved for Saif Ali Khan’s Lankesh to portray his coldness. Despite the sparkless VFX, he tries to infuse some life wherever possible. Apurva Motiwale Sahai and Ashish Mhatre’s editing fails to stop the film from being a tiresome watch.
Music
Sanchit and Ankit Balhara’s thumping background score and Ajay-Atul’s music hits the bullseye. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal’s romantic ballad ‘Tu Hai Sheetal Dhaara’ makes for a calm listen. ‘Shivoham’ crooned by Ajay Gogavale and Sachet-Parampara’s ‘Ram Siya Ram’ blends well with the theme of the film. The war song ‘Jai Shree Ram’ leaves a lasting impact.
Verdict
“Apni shakti pehchano Bajrang, jo tum kar sakte ho woh koi aur kar nahi sakta,” Jambavan tells Bajrang at a crucial point when the crestfallen Vanaras are in a fix about crossing the mighty ocean to reach Janaki in Lanka. Hearing him, the valiant Monkey God uses his powers to do the needful.
Likewise, with advanced technology in present times, Om Raut had the golden opportunity of spinning country’s most revered good vs evil literary work into an engrossing tale of epic proportions. Unfortunately, Adipurush fails to pierce naysayers’ hearts with the victory flag.
