Last updated: 16 June 2023

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Film: Adipurush (Hindi, Telugu), meaning “the first man”

Directed by: Om Raut, based on Valmiki’s Ramayana.

Cast: Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, Devdatta Nage, Sonal Chauhan, Vatsal Sheth and Trupti Toradmal

Highs: Performances of Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Devdatta Nage, background score (Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara), direction and dialogues (Om Raut), Jatayu chase scene, siege of Lanka and the climax. Second half is better than the first half

Lows: poor VFX, unconvincing production design (backgrounds look too fake in most of the scenes), runtime (some scenes are stretched to a point of exhaustion)

Cinemania rating: ★★★½☆

Plot: Adipurush begins with a series of paintings depicting the early life of Raghava (Prabhas) and his exile to the forest along with the title credits. The film focusses on the abduction of Raghava’s wife Janaki (Kriti Sanon) by Ravana (Saif Ali Khan) and her rescue mission led by Raghava and his army of Vanaras.

Performances: Prabhas does justice to his role as Raghava. Kriti Sanon is convincing as Janaki. Saif Ali Khan delivers a unique performance as Ravana with his spiked hair and CGI-expanded body – his appearance might evoke polarising reactions but his role will be remembered for a long time. Sunny Singh impresses as Lakshman. Devdatta Nage shines as Hanuman. The supporting cast also perform well and their roles are effective despite having a shorter runtime (Sonal Chauhan as Mandakini, Vatsal Sheth as Indrajeet).

Screenplay and direction: Despite the familiar and predictable story, director and screenwriter Om Raut impresses with his making and clever selection of scenes from the epic Ramayana that he chose to give more screen time and grandeur and the scenes that he chose to put his own spin on, downplay or omit altogether. Some noteworthy scenes include the Ravana getting a boon following his penance, Sita’s abduction, Jatayu chase scene, Raghava’s motivational speech to the vanara army, Lakshman’s resurrection scene and the Lanka seige, which have been well-written and executed.

Technical Departments: Adipurush is not without its flaws though – the film is let down by its technical team. The first fight scene looks cartoonish with Game of Thrones-inspired Night King like character leading a group of flying demons to attack Raghava. The CGI is heavily inconsistent throughout the film ranging from too good to too bad. Editing (Apurva Motiwale Sahai and Ashish Mhatre) could have been better – many scenes, despite being interesting at the beginning, go on to get stretched to a point of boredom. Production design is a mixed bag as well and the backgrounds look overtly artificial in most of the scenes. The background score is electrifying (despite being a bit loud at times) and saves the film on several occasions when it’s let down by CGI.

In summary, Adipurush deserves to be watched for its scale, ambition, direction and performances. The film may not be the best Ramayana adaptation to date but it’s technically superior to the previous films despite its CGI issues and will serve as benchmark for future adaptations.

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