Adipurush Review: God Save Us From Kriti Sanon, Prabhas’ Bad Gen Z Ramayana With Cringe Dialogues, Terrible VFX
What is Rocket doing in this film!
0.5 / 5
Over the years, we’ve seen many versions of Ramayana. Some as plays, some as tv series and some as films and the latest one is Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan starrer Adipurush. Directed by Om Raut and produced by T-series and Retrophiles, this film is said to be one of the most expensive Indian films ever made with a budget of about Rs 500-600 crores. The film also stars Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Siddhant Karnick, Vatsal Sheth and Sonal Chauhan among others. Adipurush released in Hindi and Telugu languages across India on June 16 and here’s my review of the film.
The Story Of Adipurush
The film tells the tale of Raghava (Lord Rama) played by Prabhas as he is exiled for 14 years and is accompanied by his wife Janaki (Goddess Sita) played by Kriti Sanon and his brother Lakshmana, played by Sunny Singh. The film opens with a picture story of Raghava’s marriage to Janaki and his exile after which the film shows Lankesh (Ravana), played by Saif Ali Khan kidnapping Janaki. In order to rescue his wife, Raghava travels to the island of Lanka after taking the help of the Vanara send and wages a war against the demon king.
Also Read: These Adipurush Review Memes On Twitter Are The Only Relief From The Trauma Of Bad VFX And Dialogues!
Cast And Characters
Prabhas as Raghava: Prabhas as Raghava does not have much to offer apart from his physique and long hair that make him look a little like Lord Ram! Neither his expressions nor his dialogue delivery is memorable. Considering his acting skills, I definitely expected more from him.
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Kriti Sanon as Janaki: If I were to put it bluntly, Kriti did not even have a role. This goes without saying that Kriti Sanon looks stunningly beautiful as Janaki but sadly the actress barely has any dialogue and screen time.
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Sunny Singh as Lakshmana: Have you ever met a Lakshmana who was hardly a part of the story? Once again, with very little dialogue, Sunny Singh was the sidekick you would totally miss. I couldn’t feel his screen presence at all even when he was injured and needed Sanjeevani booti.
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Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh/Ravana: Saif Ali Khan might look like a cartoon character on the big screen (no thanks to the VFX) and his expensive branded black t-shirt is hard to miss but so are his acting skills. The actor aced the role of the demon king. Saif is one of the few actors in the film who delivered a noteworthy performance.
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Devdatta Nage as Bajrang/Lord Hanuman: If you can tune out the cringy dialogues of Hanuman, Devdatta Nage is amazing as Lord Hanuman. It’s tough to not like him.
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Trupti Toradmal as Shurpanakha: Trupti looks appealing as Shurpanankha and plays her role well.
Siddhant Karnik as Vibhushan: What is with the casting of this film? While Siddhant Karnik is a good actor, this role did not suit his chocolate boy image and the actor looked uncomfortable and out of place in whatever little screen time he had.
Vibhishan walked on to Adipurush from the set of Extraa Innings pic.twitter.com/bsghOX68Yw
— ⛄🎄Jerxn🥑 (@jerxn_) June 16, 2023
Sonal Chauhan as Mandodari: I am honestly wondering what made Sonal Chauhan agree to take up this 30-second role. Her role as Mandodari is nothing more than a cameo and a sad one at that.
Vatsal Sheth as Maghanada/Indrajit: Vatsal sure looked appealing in his dreadlocks as Ravana’s son Indrajit. And while he acts well, those dialogues made me want to cry and rip my own hair out.
Vatsal Sheth as Indrajeet(Tatto wala) pic.twitter.com/zL6waZCWyn
— Panda Jahazi (@panda_jahazi) June 16, 2023
Also Read: Money Spent On ‘Adipurush’ Second Trailer Launch Was Equal To Kriti Sanon’s Fees For The Film? What A Waste!
Verdict: Dementors And Rocket Mark Their Debut In Om Raut’s Adipurush!
NGL but I woke up at 6.30 am to watch Adipurush at 8 am, 8 AM and it wasn’t worth it. The makers reportedly spent Rs. 250 crore on the VFX and I kid you not, it was NOT WORTH IT! Not only was the VFX giving cartoon but it was also so amateur that there are evident flaws in the film. In quick movement, everything gets blurry so, if you still want to watch the film by the end of reading this review, I’d suggest you watch it in 2D and not in 3D.
Guess what? The makers forgot to tell us that their version of Ramayana is a Gen Z version which is heavily inspired by Western films and is a musical comedy-drama! Hold on, before you get offended, allow me to explain. The film opens with Lakshmana creating a protective wall at the entrance of the cave where he is staying with Raghava and Janaki because Janaki senses something is wrong. Just as Lakshmana creates the wall, Dementors from Harry Potter come to attack them. Minutes later, Raghava is seen battling Dementors with his Dhanush Baan while they have some high-tech magical weapons. What in the Potter is going on here!!
But ruko zara, there’s more. Then come the scenes of Ravana praying to Lord Shiva in a scene that looks straight out of The Mummy, followed by Shurpanakha entering the place giving us a glimpse of Pirates of the Caribbean. Just 20 minutes into Adipurush, I knew it was a musical that I did not sign up for because all of us had already witnessed 4 song sequences! Soon after Sita is kidnapped by Ravana and he captures her using his magical vines and traps her and put her on his high-tech Vimana where is lies unconscious. It’s like one of those air medical services aircraft except that it’s open and guess what? Ravana also has a landing strip for his vimana in Lanka which is like Gotham City but better!
And then comes Rocket from Guardians of The Galaxy! As Raghava heads out to meet Sugriva of the Vanara Kingdom with the help of Lord Hanuman, he meets the man along with his other friends among them is an advisor Jambavan who looks like Rocket from Guardians of The Galaxy. Itna bhi inspire nahi hona tha, guys! You’ll also see some desi versions of Shrek in Lanka and some scenes will remind you of King Kong while Prabhas pulls a Baahubali-style dialogue delivery!
Now, let’s talk about the dialogue and the absurd scenes in the film. The story seems to have been changed as the makers took some creative liberty. I mean, Ravana apparently had snakes to give him a relaxing massage. Okay then! And if you thought the dialogues of Brahmāstra were bad and still have Alia’s Isha’s “SHIVVAAAAA” ringing in your head, wait till you hear the dialogues in Adipurush. Looks like the makers spent all their money on actors and managed to hire someone from TikTok cringe to write the chappri dialogues. But I promise you, they’re hilarious AF! I kid you not. When Hanuman goes to meet Janaki, he meets an asur sent by Ravana named Dhakdasur and guess what the asur says to him? “Bua ke bageeche mein aaya hai? Tu toh marega bete” and Hanuman replies, “Dhakde ko dhounga!” And when Vatsal Sheth’s Maghanada sets fire to Hanuman’s tail, he actually says, “Jali na? Abhi toh aur jalegi”. And Bajrangbali says, “Kapda tere baap ka, tel tere baap ka, jalegi bhi tere baap ki.”
Also Read: Kriti Sanon Showcases Ramayana’s Rich Legacy In a Resplendent Shawl For Adipurush Promotions
Shall I go on? I guess not! NGL but I found it hard to believe that these were the dialogues I heard first thing in the morning! Not only are the dialogues chappri but some also sound similar to the ones from Ramanand Sagar.
Having said that, I’m rating Adipurush 0.5 out of 5 stars only for the chappri and hilarious dialogues and Saif Ali Khan’s Khilji like Ravana! FYI, you’ll see Saif’s Ravana wearing a branded black t-shirt with a cape. For a film with 500-600 crore budget…this wasn’t expected!
First Published: June 16, 2023 3:25 PMWhat To Watch This Week Of June 12 To 18: Adipurush, Jee Karda, Bigg Boss OTT, Extraction 2 And More
