How Adipurush made Nepal ban all Hindi films over one dialogue about Sita's birthplace
Kathmandu is angry with Adipurush's dialogue. Photo: Adipurush
The contemporary retelling of Ramayana in Adipurush is facing a backlash not just in India, but also abroad in Nepal. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah on Sunday announced that no cinema halls within the Kathmandu metropolis will screen Hindi films in protest against a particular dialogue in the film Adipurush.
This is the dialogue from the film that has Kathmandu on the edge. Mayor Balen Shah has demanded the makers of Adipurush to change the dialogue not just for screening in Nepal, but everywhere else including in India as well.
- Seventeen cinema halls in the Kathmandu metropolis will not be showing Adipurush or any other Hindi film.
- There have been protests against the release of Adipurush in Nepal over Sita's birthplace dialogue. It was only after the makers agreed to change the dialogue for Nepal that the censor board agreed to lift the ban.
- However, in the latest, Adipurush along with all Hindi films face a ban in Kathmandu. Mayor Shah said the cinema halls voluntarily agreed to not screen any Hindi movies.
— Balen Shah (@ShahBalen) June 18, 2023
- Police forces have been deployed in Kathmandu to maintain law and order and prevent the screening of any films made in India.
Why
- Nepal and India share the same cultural thread. With regards to Ramayana, legend has it that Sita, Ram's wife, was born in Janakpur, located in present-day Nepal.
- Janakpur is said to be the kingdom of Sita's father King Janaka. But, Sita's birthplace has been subject to debate as there are various cultural and religious interpretations of the Ramayana.
- Protestors in Nepal claim that Adipurush seems to imply that Sita was born in "Bharat".
- The makers of Adipurush wrote a letter addressed to Balen (Balendra) Shah and Nepal censor board explaining the dialogue from the film.
- They said that the dialogue in question which has caused great strife in Nepal does not mention or imply anything about Sita's birthplace.
"The dialogue spoken by Mr Prabhas portraying the character of Shri Raghav (Ram), "aaj mere liye mat ladna, us din ke liye ladna jab Bharat ki kisi beti par haath dalne se pehle durachari tumhara paurush yaad karke thraa uthega" has no reference to the birth place of Sita Mata but refers to, in general, the dignity of all women particularly the women of Bharat," the letter reads.
- On the other hand, Balen Shah wants the makers of Adipurush to change the dialogue everywhere.
- It is not yet known when the film will release in Nepal. But reports say that while the movie is not yet screening in the country, tickets are still available.
Adipurush controversy
- Nepal is not the only country on edge over Adipurush. In India too, the film has been largely panned across masses and critics alike for its cringe-inducing VFX and "pedestrian or tapori dialogues" given to characters that are worshipped as Gods and Goddesses.
- Dialogues like "Jalegi tere baap ki" have not gone down well with the audience. Adipurush dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir Shukla on Sunday said that they will "revise some of the dialogues" following criticism.
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- Shukla also defended his choice of "pedestrian" dialogues saying that he wrote 4,000 lines out of which five have been nitpicked as bad. He said that he was only trying to keep the language simple.
- It's not just the VFX or the dialogue that has irritated the audience. The film has been panned by the core audience it was supposed to appeal to. Several Hindu organisations and even the Ayodhya Ram temple chief claimed that the film mocks the Gods who are revered.
Despite the flak the Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan starrer Adipurush is doing well at the box office. On Day 2, the total collection of Adipurush was at Rs 204 crore. The film was made at a whopping budget of approximately Rs 500 crore.