Adipurush writer Manoj Muntashir on controversial dialogues: 'Never wished to Sankritize them'

An air of scepticism surrounds the theatrical run of Adipurush as the initial feedback from its patrons suggests dissent of some kind. While the film, thanks to its leading man Prabhas, has managed to attract praise from one section of the audience, the remainder has vehemently disagreed with the approach employed by director Om Raut and Co. Even if you set the contentious VFX work aside, one of the more prominent concerns expressed by the disapproving audiences is the dialogues penned for the Hindi version of the film. Manoj Muntashir, the dialogue writer, has been the recipient of a lot of this protest which, as it normally does, has quickly translated into abuse on social media.

"Tel tere baap ka, aag bhi tere baap ki aur jalegi bhi tere baap ki," is one of the many lines from Adipurush that have stirred up controversy. It could be the usage of the word 'baap', which is considered coarse or crude, or the general casual colloquialism of the sentence that has irked viewers, but the line manages to serve as a valid case point for the reasons behind the anger: the oversimplification of the dialogues and the lack of rhythmic nuance that one has come to associate with mythology. 

Manoj Muntashir, along with Om Raut, spoke to Arnab Goswami about the ongoing backlash and discussed, whether or not, his version was not 'Sanskritized' enough,

"How are we all so aware of the Ramayan? The way you, Om (Raut) and I know of the epic is the same - there's a tradition of storytelling in our country and in the small village I come from, our grandmothers recited the story of Ramayan in the same manner (in a colloquial way). And the dialogue that you refer to (the Baap one), even the Sants (saints) and all the major storytellers of this country, too, speak out this dialogue in the same way that I have written it. I am not the first one to write this dialogue, it is already there," he says.

When probed further about the Sanskritized part, he says, "We never wished to Sankritize it".

Several social media users, however, do not seem to agree with the approach taken by the writers and have vehemently denounced the 'flavour of the dialogues'. Manoj Muntashir, in this feedback, has been singled out and also been, unfortunately, subjected to online trolling and abuse.