Manoj Muntashir Shukla, the dialogue writer for Adipurush, has issued ‘unconditional apologies’ to people hurt by the film, amid the film’s continuing poor run at the box office. Besides overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and audiences for its dialogues, screenplay, acting and visual effects, Adipurush was also criticised by several Hindu right-wing groups saying it did a poor job of adapting the Hindu epic Ramayana. On Saturday, July 8, Muntashir issued a statement that said, "I accept people's emotions have been hurt by Adipurush. With folded hands, I extend my unconditional apologies. May Prabhu Bajrang Bali keep us united and grant us strength to serve our sacred Sanatan and our great nation."
The film also received flak for certain ‘crude’ lines delivered by Hanuman’s character in one scene, where he says “jalegi bhi tere baap ki” to Meghnad, Ravana’s son. Initially, Manoj Muntashir claimed that the dialogues in the film were made simpler on purpose. “It is not an error, it is a very meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogue for Bajrangbali (Hanuman),” he told Republic TV. However, as the criticism grew louder, the makers altered the dialogue.
As the film continued to receive negative reactions, Manoj even denied that the film was an adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana, instead claiming that it was only “heavily inspired” by it. However, viewers were quick to point out that before the film’s release, Manoj had said that Adipurush was a faithful adaptation of the exact same epic that many people in India are familiar with and that there was no attempt to deviate from it at all.
According to IMDb, the Prabhas-starrer's gross worldwide collection so far adds up to Rs 410 crore, including Rs 128.50 crore in the two Telugu-speaking states. The film was reportedly made on a budget of over Rs 500 crore. It features Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Saif Ali Khan, Vatsal Sheth and Sonal Chauhan in key roles.
With IANS inputs