Movie Review : Adipurush

Update: 2023-06-16 13:22 GMT
'Adipurush' Movie Review

Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage and others.

Music: Ajay-Atul

Cinematography: Karthik Pazhani

Producer: Bhushan Kumar - Krushan Kumar - Om Raut - Prasad Sutaar - Rajesh Nair

Screenplay - Direction: Om Raut

'Adipurush' is the film which everyone is waiting since a long time. The entire country is starving for a big release for the past few months and this high-budget mythological drama has generated the hype with its promotional content. Starring Prabhas and Kriti Sanon in the lead roles, Om Raut directed this film. The expectations are very high on this movie which tells us the story of Ramayana and let us see how the movie turned out.


Story:

As this is the story of Ramayana which is familiar to most of the people, the makers skipped the growth of lord Ram and his marriage to Sita. The movie starts from the Vanavasa stage. Laxman cuts the nose of Surpanaka who tries to get lord Ram. Looking at his sister, Ravanasura decides to kidnap Sita and he gets absolutely mesmerized by her beauty. He kidnaps her and how Rama brings Sita back with the help of Hanuman and Sugreeva and puts an end to Ravana forms the rest of the story.


Analysis:

Ramayana is one of the most significant mythological tales in India. We have seen many versions of this story on the big screen and small screen over 5-6 decades. This story has the power to engage the audience despite knowing it word to word. Whenever they made this story into a movie or a serial, they have used new technologies, gave fresh looks and wrote different screenplays but the basics were never forgotten. No dared to tinker with the core of Ramayana, the depiction of the characters and their appearances. But Bollywood director Om Raut questioned himself why should lord Ram look in a particular way? Why should Ravanasura look like this? What happens when war scenes are presented differently? He came up with some unique answers and that is 'Adipurush'. He crossed some boundaries with his imagination and creativity. He decided to go wild with the technology and showcased Ravanasura in a way no one has shown before. This led to a lot of unnaturalness and artificialness in the movie. We don't get a 'Divine' feeling while watching this movie.

Coming to historic films, a lot of old directors presented these movies wonderfully even without the use of a lot of technology. The Telugu film industry stands ahead of everyone else when it comes to making historic movies at one point in time. Directors at that time created wonders with almost zero technological advancements. Om Raut got a golden chance to showcase Ramayana in the best way possible with the use of the latest technology. But he used it to destroy 'Adipurush' and it worked out too. The movie gives an okay feeling till halftime but the audience get dismayed when they watch the war scenes in the second half. We will forget that it is Ramayana that is taking place on the screen and feel like we are witnessing a cartoon movie on the big screen. We get a feeling that Rama is fighting with aliens but not Ravansura's army. The unnatural and fictional fights end up as a huge disappointment. We don't know how much the makers spent on those visuals but none of them make you awestruck. Instead, they make you laugh at times. Over three-fourths of the second half is filled with fight sequences and people are confused about what they are watching on the screen. These episodes which lacked any kind of emotion are a big bane to the movie.

They kept a moustache to Prabhas and made him build a six pack body which is okay. We can understand that the makers took some liberty but the dress he wore, the long hair and the dialogues written to him were very unnatural. Even then, people were ready to get on with the movie. But the way the makers etched out Ravanasura's character makes you completely confused. As said before, we won't get the feeling of watching Ramayana on the big screen. The spikes hairstyle for Ravanasura, sidecuts, beard, metallic shields on his body and everything makes you cringe. On top of that, Saif Ali Khan is seen wearing a mask in one scene while preparing a knife. In another scene, he is feeding a monster. We understand that he is a villain but there has to be an emotional connection with his character as well. He has a lot of great traits and none of them were explored in the movie. Only the director knows what his intentions were while presenting Ravanasura in such a way.

The start scenes and the first half are okay in 'Adipurush'. Despite the artificialness at parts, we can convince ourselves that the makers are trying to modernize Ramayana to attract the current generation of kids. The well-known story was narrated in an engaging manner and some of the visuals were quite good too. The character of Hanuman and his connection with lord Ram have worked out well. As it is a familiar story, Om Raut decided to tell the story at a fast pace without going into a lot of detail which is a good thing. The scene between Vaali and Sugreeva has came out pretty well. The scene where Rama aims Brahmastra at the ocean which stands in his way to Lanka too was picturized quite well. The presentation and use of technology during these parts give us a feeling that Om Raut might have a winner in his hands. But the atmosphere which looks very natural around Rama appears completely unnatural when it comes to Ravanasura. The way it was designed turned out to be a huge disadvantage. The architecture of Lanka reminds us of the city showcased in 'Saaho'. Also, all the people there looked like aliens. Everything related to Ravanasura was artificial and war scenes were quite disappointing as well. We don't get a feeling that lord Ram went to Lanka in order to defeat Ravanasura. The creativity crossed the limits and everything looks comical after a certain point. The patience of the audience get tested by the end. 'Ramanaya' should give us a divine feeling but 'Adipurush' fails on that aspect.


Performances:

It takes time to get used to seeing Prabhas as lord Ram. After that, he appears okay but one cannot say that he fully satisfies the viewers in this role. We don't get a divine feeling while looking at him. Also, he doesn't get elevated a lot in the movie which is quite shocking since it is his story. Om Raut underplayed his character a lot. The director gave more elevation for characters like Hanuman, Lakshmana and Sugreeva. He even gave a lot of importance to Ravanasura's character which irritates the audience a lot. But lord Ram doesn't get a lot of hero elevations which is a minus of the movie. Prabhas shines in a few scenes but his appearance was a major put-off. He looks quite odd and the new look did not work out at all.

Kriti Sanon is decent as Sita and delivers a convincing performance in the limited screen space she gets. But you will not get a divine feeling looking at her just like Prabhas. The major minus point of the movie is Saif Ali Khan and his role. Starting from the looks to his acting, everything went wrong. Devdatta Nage as Human is very good and he got a lot of amazing moments in the movie. Sunny Singh as Lakshmana is okay too. The rest of the cast are fine.


Technicians:

Ajay and Atul are the biggest strengths of this movie. Their music elevated a lot of scenes. The 'Jai Shri Ram' song was used quite well in the background score and the rest of the songs are decent too. Their work stands out in the movie. Karthik Pazhani's cinematography is attractive as the visuals are quite grand on many occasions. The production values are top-notch and the cost can be seen onscreen. The artwork and visual effects evoke mixed feelings. They are good in some parts while they are below par in other parts. The movie looks very artificial. Director Om Raut failed to use the available resources to their full potential. He misused the technology in many occasions. The appearance of characters did not work out at all and his visualization during the war scenes is completely off track. It is safe to say that he wasted a golden opportunity.


Verdict: 'Adipurush' - No Emotion Only Animation!


Rating: 2.25/5


Disclaimer : This Review is Just An Opinion of One Person. Please Do Not Judge The Movie Based On This Review And Watch Movie in Theater

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