Mythology is an integral part of Indian culture. Even though many comment that ‘Puranas’ are just imaginative works, majority of us believe in our scriptures to the core. There are evidences which are even standing today to support these events such as ‘Ramasetu’ and Ravana’s airport in Sri Lanka. Authors like Amish Tripathi and Anand Neelakanthan enticed the tech-savvy present generation with their books which portray Gods and mythological characters as common men.
Rahul Sankrityayan who was a devout Buddhist has written historic novels criticizing Hinduism sixty years ago. Telugu novelist Ranganayakamma created sensation with her book ‘Ramayana Visha Vriksham’. Writers have to remember that they don’t have the right to change the premise and story according to their wish when they want to touch mythological subjects. Did anyone rewrite the ending of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo-Juliet’ since it is a tragedy?
Amish Tripathy’s ‘Shiva Trilogy’ brought Lord Shiva’s character close to youngsters. Anand Neelakanthan showed ‘Ravana’ and ‘Duryodhana’ as heroes through his vantage point. This was done in the past by the legendary actor NTR in his films like ‘Daana Veera Soora Karna’ and ‘Seetarama Kalyanam’ as well. Oscar winning director Martin Scorcese directed ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ in the past. It shocked Americans and sources say this film became the reason for the deliberate rejection of Academy awards to his future films. He eventually won the Oscar for ‘Departed’ many years after.
Team ‘Adipurush’ hasn’t said that their film is based on the epic of ‘Ramayana’, but as the characters are based on it, we can expect that the director is going to portray it in the form of a folklore subject just as Amish Tripathy did with his books. A Malayalam director named Aravindan made a film named ‘Kanchana Seetha’ in 1978-79. It is based on the episode of ‘Lava’ and ‘Kusa’ and Lord Rama’s character was portrayed as a tribal man. Seetha’s character doesn’t appear in this film. Rajya Sabha MP T Subbarami Reddy produced a film named ‘Bhagavadgita’ in Sanskrit under the direction of GV Iyer. Neena Gupta played ‘Draupadi’ in this realistic film.
If director Om Raut films ‘Adipurush’ in the form of Amish Tripathy’s novels, majority may not like it as these novels are written for a niche section. This literature entertained people who are well-versed in English and doesn’t have any religious sentiments, but a common viewer will reject the film if makers take freedom in portraying the devotional characters. We all know the fate of Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ravan’. He took the extreme liberty to show metaphorically that Sita had a soft corner for Ravana and audiences rejected ‘Ravan’ outright. Let’s hope that the team of ‘Adipurush’ portrays the mythology as it was written without any deviations.
