Adipurush Movie Review: ADIPURUSH is a wellmade entertainer with a bigscreen appeal.
ADIPURUSH, inspired from the Ramayana, is the story of Lord Rama rescuing Mata Sita from the evil Ravana. Raghav (Prabhas), the prince of Ayodhya, is sent on a 14-year vanvas (exile). He’s accompanied by his wife Janki (Kriti Sanon) and brother Shesh (Sunny Singh). One day, while Raghav is roaming in the forest, he meets Shurpankha (Tejaswini Pandit). She falls for him and proposes marriage. Raghav respectfully declines and informs her that he’s already married. Shurpankha is unable to bear the truth and she harms Janki. In retaliation, Shesh cuts her nose. She goes back to her kingdom, Lanka, and complains about it to her brother, King Lankesh (Saif Ali Khan). Lankesh decides to exact revenge. He kidnaps Janki and keeps her hostage in the Ashok Vatika in the palace complex. Raghav is devastated and he decides to head to Lanka to rescue Janki and defeat Lankesh. He’s helped by the Vaanar Raja Sugriva (voiced by Gaurrav Walia) and Lord Bajrang (Devdatta G Nage) in this historic battle. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
ADIPURUSH is based on the epic, Ramayana. Om Raut’s adapted story is a classic. Clearly Om Raut, as a new generation film maker, and back with the accolades of his 2020 super hit film TANHAJI: THE UNSUNG WARRIOR, is driven to tell his eternal tale to a younger audience, that has grown up to VFX films and Super hero franchises from the likes of Marvel etc. To celebrate our own stories is not just laudable but indeed commendable for any storyteller. Some of the scenes are well thought out and interpreted. He also keeps the narrative simplified. However, one feels that Manoj Muntashir Shukla’s dialogues could have been more impactful. The only dialogue that stands out is Raghav’s speech before the climax battle.
Om Raut’s direction is first-rate. He doesn’t rush through the narrative and takes his time to build the characters and the world in which the film is set in. The film is a visual spectacle and the way he has handled the grandeur is seen to be believed. The 3D effects also are nicely done. The use of the song ‘Jai Shree Ram’ is praiseworthy and it enhances the impact.
On the flipside, the second half gets dragging. The climax fight goes on and on and makes viewers restless. Some of the CGI could have been better, knowing well that comparisons would be drawn to international films. You can make out that the film maker is keen to establish his own narrative of this tale and hence the dialogues too have perhaps been contemporised.
ADIPURUSH starts on a lovely note. The visuals in the song ‘Ram Siya Ram’ are beautiful and the makers smartly and briefly explain the context and background and begin the story straight away from the vanvas track. Lankesh’s entry is superb and so is the song ‘Shivoham’. To show Lankesh’s statues singing the song is cinematic brilliance. The first half is lengthier than the second half and yet, it is impactful. Some of the scenes that stand out in the first half are Lankesh kidnapping Janki, Raghav meeting Shabari, Bajrang’s entry, Bajrang meeting Raghav for the first time, Sugriva and Vaali’s fight and the intermission point. Post-interval, the film falls in certain scenes. The ‘sanjeevni booti’ episode and Raghav’s speech are memorable sequences in this hour