Review: All the known problems aside, 'Adipurush' fails to even generate the organic rousing feels of Ramayan

Adipurush

So much noise and chatter around the release of this magnum opus Adipurush and more importantly - so much riding on it. Right from controversies to publicity stunts and what not, Adipurush had all the ingredients to be a film with immense buzz and it delivered in that department. But now getting to the brass tacks as it finally released today and judgements can be made after watching the film and not just on assumptions. Having had the chance to see the film earlier, here is what I thought about it-

The Obvious Problems

Circling back in time, we saw the first teaser of Adipurush being launched last year with a roar but was followed by immense flak about the quality of CGI, cartoonish treatment and other factors. Following that, the film witnessed a delay and seemingly, a lot of corrections were made. To their credit, the corrections are visible and there is an improvement in what seemed even worse earlier, Unfortunately, it is just not enough. The CGI quality is still dismal to a large extent and the worst part about that is that neither does it feel entirely cartoonish nor does it qualify for hyper-realism. It hangs around in the middle which is not a good spot to be in.

The vaanar sena treatment, the battle shots, Prabhas's face and body, multiple instances of Saif Ali Khan's Raavan sequences and more - almost every other frame of the film is loaded with CGI and mostly, it is all bad. I still fail to understand that Bali and Sugriva - who are so pivotal in the story - why were the animated CGI monkeys created for them! If you have a human actor playing Hanuman, why weren't Bali and Sugriva also played by human actors! This is just the tip of the iceberg of a truckload of problems that Adipurush possesses though.

Disjointed Screenplay, Underwhelming Characterisation & Unintentionally Funny Dialogues

It is a feat to mess up the screenplay of a tale that transcends generations but somehow it happens here. Om Raut's screenplay work is disjointed and questionable. Amassing a long runtime of 3 hours, Raut somehow doesn't exactly weave a screenplay that is a journey from Ram and Sita'a vanvaas to Ram saving Sita from Ravana - instead it catapults to different places in between thus entirely stealing you from the chronology of it.

Then comes the characterisation and it is even more perplexing than other factors. It was smart to take extreme creative liberty with the role of Ravana because any such thing with Ram, Lakshman or Sita would have backfired more than it has for Ravana. While applaudable and even Saif Ali Khan trying his utmost best to instil fear into the larger-than-life treatment, it still becomes a half-baked attempt. The first half and build-up of Ravana is done really well but the second half and the final battle of Ram and Ravana is actually the weakest part. Add to that, key characters like Lakshman, Vibhishan, Kumbhkaran, Bali and others barely get any importance.

And then, the good part of the dialogues was that while purer than usual Hindi, they are never too literature driven to fathom but this also leads to some unintentionally funny dialogues in the film which is not what you anticipated.

The Few Good Things

One of the biggest plus points for Adipurush is undoubtedly the music and sound design. With a rousing song like Jai Shri Ram, a soulful one like Ram Siya Ram, a surprisingly calm song like Tu Hai Sheetal Dhaara - the songs are great. The background score and sound design are the best aspects as they help cover a mountain of hurt that the film otherwise goes through. Apart from that, if you are watching this in 3D, that might be the best way to see it because the 3D treatment is actually good. 

And finally, Kriti Sanon as Janki is without a doubt the best part about this film. Playing the role, Sanon is mellow, subtle and makes you feel for Janki with every emotion and in every situation. Devdatta Nage as Hanuman also has a colorful arc and he is having fun with it while also making you smile and chuckle.

Prabhas - A Total Misfit

Prabhas might have seemed to be a winner choice for Ram on paper but the actor is a complete dud as Ram/Raghav. His poker face throughout the film is a shocking thing to look at where no matter what the situation is, Prabhas just doesn't seem to emote. Sharad Kelkar's dubbing in Hindi does the maximum heavy-lifting to even make Prabhas' presence somewhat impactful but doesn't do much to it. And what is going on with the colors and tints on his face and body in the film! At more instances than one, the face and body looks CGI-deriven for unexplainable reasons and that just further adds to the problem. There are almost no redeeming factors for Prabhas here inspite of seeming like this was a zone where he should have excelled.

The Verdict

The previously known problems were always going to be a factor even after the delay and correction work that apparently took place. It is saddening though that upon watching the film, you realise that bad CGI isn't even the bigger problem here. Any flaw that Adipurush had would have easily been a non-factor, if the film was able to generate an organically rousing feeling that a film like this should have generated  - alas! that doesn't happen.

Rating - **1/2 (2.5/5)