Mumbai: Starring Prabhas as Raghava aka Lord Rama, Kriti Sanon as Janaki aka Sita, and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh aka Ravana, Adipurush was released in the theatres on June 16. Directed by Om Raut and based on the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, the film’s makers were brutally trolled for the horrible visual effects, poor characterisation, and pedestrian language used in the film. Manoj Muntashir was heavily slammed for using modern-day slang in the dialogues, which were found ‘cringeworthy’ by the audiences.
Now, three weeks after its release, Manoj Muntashir has finally apologised for ‘hurting people’s emotions’ as he penned an apology note on his social media handles on Saturday, July 8, in Hindi and English, which read, “I accept people’s emotions have been hurt by Adipurush. With folded hands, I extend my unconditional apologies. May Prabhu Bajrang Bali keep us united and grant us strength to serve our sacred Sanatan and our great nation.”
मैं स्वीकार करता हूँ कि फ़िल्म आदिपुरुष से जन भावनायें आहत हुईं हैं.
अपने सभी भाइयों-बहनों, बड़ों, पूज्य साधु-संतों और श्री राम के भक्तों से, मैं हाथ जोड़ कर, बिना शर्त क्षमा माँगता हूँ.
भगवान बजरंग बली हम सब पर कृपा करें, हमें एक और अटूट रहकर अपने पवित्र सनातन और महान देश की…— Manoj Muntashir Shukla (@manojmuntashir) July 8, 2023
His apology hasn’t gone down well with netizens. One of the Twitter users quoted-tweeted him, “Prabhas and Kriti Sanon-starrer Adipurush is at the tail end of its theatrical run & now this fellow makes this statement whereas previously he refused to even accept Hanuman ji as God & what not unacceptable was featured in the movie in terms of tapori language!”, while another wrote, “Your contribution in destroying the great legacy of Bhagwan Ram is not less than Islamic jihadi. They break our temples but you have broken the soul of the great character of the Lord Rama. Shameful.”
Made on a budget of over Rs 600 crore, the Om Raut directorial is among the costliest films in the history of Indian cinema. This is the reason that even after earning a gross worldwide collection of Rs 390 crore (as per the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk.com), it has turned out to be a massive commercial failure. The film has been a third major flop in Prabhas’ career after Saaho and Radhe Shyam but the Baahubali star would hope to bounce back with his next Salaar releasing on September 28.
