Less than a week ago, the teaser of Om Raut’s Adipurush was released and has been receiving mixed to not-so-favourable responses from the audiences. Besides the ‘Pogo-like’ VFX, one of the major things that netizens have been criticizing is Saif Ali Khan’s look as Lankesh aka Ravana. Netizens have been commenting and slamming the makers for making him look like invaders Babar and Alauddin Khilji.
Now the film’s captain, in conversation with a news channel, opened up about Saif’s Islamised look of Ravana and what he thinks of it. Read on to know all he said.
Speaking to News18 about the controversy over Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Islamised’ look as ‘Lankesh’ Ravana in Adipurush, Om Raut defended it saying, “He is demonic. He is a person who is the greatest villain of all time. He’s a ten-headed demon and you will have to see the film to actually understand that particular point.”
Adding that for them, Adipurush was a mission and passion, Raut added, “The demonic image of today’s generation of today’s time is the one I have tried to translate onto screen correctly. We are making this film for the next generation. The idea behind this film is to take our great holy script, our Ramayana to the next generation. and not only the next generation but for the world to see.”
Continuing that Ravana as a character has to be intimidating, Om Raut stated, “And in order to make him intimidating, there is a certain visual, a certain image that comes to mind, which we tried to capture through our imagination. But definitely, that has got nothing to do with any Khiljis of the world, Nadir Shahs of the world, Genghis Khans of the world, Babars of the world. Not at all remotely is there a connection between them.”
Adding that every era has its villains and heroes, Om Raut said, “In today’s times, people perceive Alauddin Khilji as a villain. So it is very understandable, when they look at Ravana, the greatest villain of all time, they might see glimpses of Khilji, they might see glimpses of Kans also, they might see glimpses of Duryodhan also, they might see glimpses of Genghis Khan also.”
Stating that the Ramayana is understood differently by different generations, the Adipurush director added, “In fact, even in your own life, at a younger age you understand a different Ramayana, as you grow older, every time you visit it again, you understand different aspects, and learn new things from it. It’s an epic that can never be completely understood by any human in their entire life. So that’s my thought on the other side.”
He continued, “Now, if you talk about the visualisation, and not commenting on Dipika (Chikhlia)’s statement, because I haven’t heard it, that is the representation that I feel should be done as an artist because, when I talk about the visuals and the treatment, it is because the generation that is consuming content today, today’s India and today’s global generation, they are consuming content that is a Marvel film, which is a DC film, which is Harry Potter, which is Lord of the Rings. So many of these films are consumed by these youngsters. And if I want to take my Ramayana, my Prabhu Ram’s story to them, then I have to speak to them in their language.”
Directed by Om Raut, Adipurush stars Prabhas as Raghava, Kriti Sanon as Janaki, Sunny Singh as Lakshmana, Devdatta Nage as Hanuman and others. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on January 12.
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