Adipurush: Kriti Sanon, Om Raut's temple farewell sparks controversy in Tirupati, watch video

The friendly farewell between Adipurush actor Kriti Sanon and director Om Raut at the Tirumala temple has sparked a controversy.

Kriti Sanon and Om Raut visited Tirupati during Adipurush promotions. (Photo: Screengrab and Instagram)

It seems the controversy follows the cast and crew of Adipurush everywhere. Starring Prabhas in the lead role, the producers staged a massive pre-release event on Tuesday in Tirupati. The event was a grand success giving the much-needed confidence boost to the filmmakers, who were rattled by the extreme reactions garnered by the film's teaser last year.

When the film's cast and crew were in Tirupati, they visited the Tirumala temple. A video capturing the moment when lead actress Kriti Sanon and director Om Raut emerged from the temple after seeking blessings has gone viral on social media. But, it was not their temple visit that ignited the controversy but rather their farewell gesture towards each other. The friendly side-hug and peck on the cheek shared by Sanon and Raut have triggered a wave of discussions regarding the appropriateness of such displays of affection within the temple premises. Telugu news channels have devoted considerable airtime to debating the matter, with opinions varying greatly.

The Adipurush team, however, has not reacted to the controversy.

Adipurush has been the subject of unpleasant debates since the release of its teaser last year. The filmmakers came under a lot of fire when the teaser failed to live up to expectations. It caught everyone off-guard the teaser revealed that the movie was not the live-action adaptation of the Indian epic, rather it was live-animation. The VFX work in the teaser was also slammed for its sub-par quality. The reactions were so extreme that the filmmakers were forced to postpone the release date from January and rework the movie's special effects.

The trailer that was released earlier showed that the filmmakers have improved the movie's colour palate and increased the CGI shots. Another trailer was launched during the pre-release event to highlight the action sequences. Despite all the efforts that have gone into it, many still find the VFX in the movie unconvincing.

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