Writer-lyricist Manoj Muntashir defends 'Adipurush's dialogues after immense backlash

Writer-lyricist Manoj Muntashir and director Om Raut are facing the wrath of fans and Lord Ram devotees alike after the release of their ambitious mythological drama Adipurush. While the film is off to a flying start at the box office, it has been critically panned, with its dialogues being one of the most controversial and debatable aspects. Now, Muntashir has defended his work.

Dialogues were oversimplified deliberately

While speaking to journalist Arnab Goswami on the Republic TV Channel on Friday (June 16) night, Muntashir said the oversimplification of the dialogues "was not an error." He claimed there was "a completely meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogues for the film." He added, "Inn dialogues mein kya hai aisa jo kamzor hai? (What is so weak about these dialogues?)."

Per Muntashir, this is how Ramayana has always been narrated

The Teri Mitti lyricist further defended his thought process by saying, "Not all characters in a film can speak the same way. There has to be a diversion." He further said that during Ramayan katha vachan, the elderly often spoke in this way, and certain dialogues have already been popularized by Hindu saints. "I am not the first one to write it," he claimed.

Muntashir wondered why people aren't talking about other dialogues

When Goswami asked if the dialogues should have been made more "Sanskritized," Muntahshir said that they "never wanted to do so." He also pointed out how the criticism is only centered around Lord Hanuman's dialogues, and nobody is praising the conversations between Ram/Raghava and Sita/Janaki—the leads of Adipurush. Raut also defended the film and said that the audience's response has made him "very happy."

Which dialogues have created an uproar?

There are a couple of dialogues in Adipurush's Hindi version that haven't gone down well with the viewers, who have pointed out they were too "modern." One such dialogue, spoken by Hanuman to Meghnaad, is, "Kapda tere baap ka, tel tere baap ka, jalegi bhi teri baap ki." In another one, Hanuman says, "Jo hamari behnon ki taraf dekhega, uski Lanka laga denge."

Here's all you need to know about 'Adipurush'

Adipurush stars Prabhas as Raghav, Kriti Sanon as Janaki, Sunny Singh as Lakshman, Devdutta Nage as Hanuman, and Saif Ali Khan as Raavan. The film has been co-produced by T-Series and has been reportedly constructed on a budget of Rs. 500-600cr due to its VFX/CGI costs. It was released on Friday in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. Here's what we thought of Adipurush.