Adipurush director Om Raut says he ‘expected very positive response’ for teaser, claims Saif Ali Khan’s Raavan isn’t supposed to resemble Khilji

The director and the film’s dialogue writer, Manoj Muntashir, spoke to News18 about the criticisms levelled at the film — from poor visuals to an inauthentic representation of sacred texts — and promised audiences that they won’t be ‘disappointed’ when they see the whole picture in January.

“We expected a very positive response, to be honest. It is kind of mixed. There are a lot of people who are saying good things about it. There are some people who are not, and there are some differences in their minds. This has been a journey, I must say,” the director said.

The filmmaker also responded to claims that the demon king Raavan’s look as been ‘Islamised’, and inspired heavily by Ranveer Singh’s Khilji from the film Padmaavat. He said, “In order to make him intimidating, there is a certain visual, a certain image that comes to mind, which we tried to capture through our imagination. But definitely, that has got nothing to do with any Khiljis of the world, Nadir Shahs of the world, Genghis Khans of the world, Babars of the world. Not at all remotely is there a connection between them. So in today’s times, people perceive Alauddin Khilji as a villain. So it is very understandable, when they look at Ravana, the greatest villain of all time, they might see glimpses of Khilji, they might see glimpses of Kans also, they might see glimpses of Duryodhan also, they might see glimpses of Genghis Khan also.”

He said that the main goal with Adipurush is to present it to a younger generation of viewers who’ve grown up watching Marvel movies and other Hollywood blockbusters. He said that they want the film to be enjoyed the world over.

Adipurush stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti Sanon as Sita, Saif Ali Khan as Raavan and Sunny Singh as Lakshman. The film will be released in theatres on January 12.