Adipurush movie review: Bad vs Worse

Movie AdipurushDirector Om RautActors Prabhas Kriti Sanon Saif Ali KhanRating 15Adapting a mythology is a doubleedged sword A myth by definition allows room for multiple interpretations In fact itrsquos everevolving You can add subtract and create a new version of the same story as you like But when the same myth becomes bigger than any truth it restricts imagination from flying So first things firstWatching Om Rauts Adipurush his adaptation of the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana with a fixed lens expecting it to look like the earlier popular versions of the story is unfair But its how the director has adapted the screenplay from Valmikis Ramayana and treated the story thats not only inherent to practising Hindus but also known to a majority in the country that should decide its meritUnsurprisingly the film stands as the poorest take on the story and is only an elongated version of the poor visual units that the makers released during the promotions In fact whatrsquos surprising is that the film is worse than the inhibitions one had while stepping into the theatre for a morning show Leave aside the religious value of the epic the story of Ramayana is everything cinematic From drama romance grounding sentiment of justice to the hero vs villain arc that Indian cinema especially love to exploit Ramayana is the stuff dream screenplays are made ofSo how terrible could Rautrsquos imagination get Turns out itrsquos the lack of it that results in an insipid lacklustre even laughable threehourlong watch Watching Adipurush looks like the work of a student who thinks if he adds some of his own knowledge to a copied answer he would appear smart But in reality ends up getting caughtSo you have all the highlights of the Ramayana intact in Adipurush but only halfbaked and sometimes tweaked to suit the filmmakerrsquos politics than serve the story For instance Rautrsquos Game of Thrones inspired Raavan who is unredeemable and lives a life of White Walker with very little insight into his psyche pleads Janaki Sita to marry him because his sister Shurpanakha told him he would become formidable the day he weds her It was jarring to see a man who displays nothing else than disgusting arrogance throughout the film using no force to get what he wants and even becoming vulnerable in front of a woman This has nothing to do with Saifrsquos acting prowess which turns out to be one of the few watchable aspects of the film But it speaks a lot about Rautrsquos inability to dwell deep into an otherwise fascinating character In fact the filmmakerrsquos ideology is quite in line with the rightwing image of Raavan as a onedimensional sinister demonIt will be wrong to not mention Kriti Sanon while talking about credibility in performances Besides Saif she becomes the saving grace of this highonbudget lowonemotion mess of a film Since the announcement itself one knew Kriti wouldnrsquot have much of a screen time After all South superstar Prabhas was playing Lord Ram who would go up against Saifrsquos Raavan While it takes a few moments to warm up to Kritirsquos dialogue delivery which lacks the authenticity of the ancient time that the story is set in her ethereal screen presence and expressions combined with her ability to pause and react at the right time makes one appreciate every time she appears on screenIn fact in many scenes Kriti seems to act for both and Prabhas who is the biggest downer in the film that revolves around him How many times have you had a movie avoid closeups of its protagonists In Adipurush alone there are at least 10 times that a scene demanded a closer look at Ram for the audience to feel what he feels Raut instead takes a wider shot distracting the audience with the stunning daunting scenery The failure is not the directorrsquos Itrsquos of the actor who looks more wooden than a wood log Eyes devoid of any emotion a slight smile plastered on the face throughout and no other facial muscle participating Prabhas cuts the most forgettable picture of Ram who is not only worshipped by people but even as a screen character is as heroic as a hero can get Ram is obedient an affectionate husband a protector and a believer in justice He is also calm fair and soft But Prabhasrsquo Ram only shines momentarily when he is giving war cries which honestly is reminiscent of his Bahubali avatar In all the emotionally vulnerable and humane moments the actor looks nothing more than a pole Whatever little emotions one might feel for Ram is also courtesy Sharad Kelkar who has voiced the character in the Hindi version of RamayanaDevdatta Nage as Bajrang Hanuman doesnrsquot deserve much mention except that the portrayal ruins onersquos memory of all the strongly built but emotional and naive Hanumans one grew up watching and reading about Apart from the two performances mentioned above the only redeeming quality of Adipurush is its music The score by Sachin and Ankit Balhara and the songs by AjayAtul and SachetParampara lend some aesthetic value to the film But they remain largely ineffective in uplifting scenes that have zero to little depth and grandeurThe filmrsquos VFX is yet to be spoken about Again no surprise it is more atrocious than what one saw in the filmrsquos trailer or teaser The action sequences look juvenile resembling dated video games Raavan looks less like a man who is 10headed but more like a cartoon character parents made us wary of as a child Only Raut can answer whether he wanted Adipurush to be taken seriously as a retelling or an epic or an amusing cartoon show to entertain kids Either way he fails primarily because his creation above anything lacks soul Not a single sequence or even the most anticipated highlights of the story moves one or evokes any emotion In this story of good vs bad the only fight that the team of Adipurush sets up is of bad vs worse

Adipurush movie review: Bad vs Worse

Movie: Adipurush
Director: Om Raut
Actors: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan
Rating: 1/5

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Home / Entertainment / Bollywood News / Article / Adipurush movie review: Bad vs Worse

Adipurush movie review: Bad vs Worse

Movie: AdipurushDirector: Om RautActors: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali KhanRating: 1/5

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Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Latest Web Stories

Mid-Day Fast

Movie: Adipurush
Director: Om Raut
Actors: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan
Rating: 1/5