The controversy surrounding the final trailer of the Ramayana-based new movie Adipurush tells us that when it comes to religion, you just cannot get it right in India anymore. You have to be 100 per cent compliant. And even that won’t guarantee a controversy-free release.
On their visit to the Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati on 7 June, Adipurush director Om Raut kissed lead actor Kriti Sanon goodbye on the cheek. This innocent gesture enraged sections of Hindus online, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ramesh Naidu, who expressed displeasure over the ‘unacceptable’ act.
This is not the movie’s first problem with Hindu groups; there have also been calls to boycott and ban the movie earlier.
While Bollywood is no stranger to religious controversies, this one is slightly unique. Instead of hurting Hindu sentiments, the Adipurush team has explicitly attempted to appeal to them, leaning heavily into Hinduism and its traditions. From performing aartis, inviting a Tirupati temple priest on stage for the final trailer launch to reserving a seat for Hanuman in every theatre, the cast and crew of the movie have tried to tick all the Hindu boxes.
But there’s just no pleasing the serial offence-mongering Hindu groups, to use a term coined by The New York Times many years ago.
“This is a condemnable act. Even a husband and wife do not go there (temple) together. You can go to a hotel room and do it. Your behaviour is like insulting Ramayana and Goddess Sita,” said the head priest of Telangana’s Chilkur Balaji Temple, pitching into the outrage. Neither Sanon nor Raut have responded to these objections yet.
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Bollywood tries, tries, and fails
This is not the first instance of an overtly ‘Hindu’ movie being the target of the online boycott community. Ayan Mukerji’s 2022 film Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, inspired by Hindu mythology and utilising Hindu imagery, was slammed for hurting religious sentiments. Advait Chandan’s Laal Singh Chaddha (2022) also faced backlash as its lead actor, Aamir Khan, allegedly insulted Hindu gods in his 2014 film PK.
Why, then, is Bollywood trying to romance these groups, and why does it keep failing to gain their approval?
Bollywood celebrities visiting temples and dargahs for blessings before movie releases is a long-held tradition. Siddhivinayak and Ajmer Sharif, for one, have become the go-to religious destinations for celebrities seeking ‘divine intervention’ for their new releases. This can be partially chalked up as a PR stunt. What better way to appear relatable than to portray oneself as a down-to-earth person who rubs shoulders with commoners to pray to their god? And celebrities need good PR now more than ever, given that the sentiments of boycotting ‘anti-Hindu’ Bollywood have only barely subsided.
As Hindus become more overtly religious and even more socio-politically powerful, the Hindi film industry is becoming increasingly keen on capitalising on this market. Religious movies are a great source of revenue for the silver screen, and Bollywood bigwigs have not shied away from this fact. The industry has already greenlit multiple movies about the Ramayana and Mahabharata, which will be released in the coming months and years.
There is also a good financial reason for these religious promotions. Mythological movies account for some of the most expensive productions in the industry. Raut’s Adipurush was made on a budget of Rs 500 crore, while Mukerji spent Rs 410 crore on Brahmastra. To earn this money back, Bollywood executives have to secure their audience: religious and nationalist Hindus. Appealing to their sentiments, thus, becomes a part of the business.
Despite its many endeavours, the Hindi film industry has not had much success in courting these groups of Hindus.
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The importance of being ‘perfectly Hindu’
The section that Bollywood is trying to appease requires total compliance, both from the movies and the people making them. It is not enough that Hindu tales are being turned into extravagant films; these movies have to be ‘perfectly Hindu’. About two and a half years ago, Saif Ali Khan, who plays Ravan in Adipurush, commented on how his portrayal of the Ramayana character will be more “humane”. However, after facing extreme backlash, Khan retracted his comments, avowing his loyalty to Ram.
Adipurush has also been hit with two legal complaints for hurting Hindu sentiments. The first complainant, Himanshu Srivastava, has alleged that the film’s teaser contains an “indecent depiction of Lord Ram, Sita, Hanuman, Ravana”, while the second complainant, Sanjay Dinanath Tiwari, a self-proclaimed Sanatan Dharma preacher, has accused Adipurush’s director and producer of portraying Hindu mythology characters inaccurately in their movie poster. Advocate Raj Gaurav also moved court against the movie for portraying Ramayana characters in an “unwarranted” way. Raut’s legal counsel, however, responded by calling it a “publicity-seeking exercise”, and the plea was later dismissed.
The thing about the ‘inaccuracy’ of these movies is that the themes portrayed in them are very challenging to perfectly comply with. There is no way to fact-check these stories that have been passed down orally over time and have many text versions and interpretations. Bollywood cannot satisfy every Hindu faction, especially not with a single movie.
It is also not just the content of the movies that is limited by these strict outlooks but also those involved in them. If the cast of a ‘Hindu’ movie shows an inclination toward religion, they have to be completely committed to it. They have to have the same virtues as the characters they play and the same beliefs as their audience. Otherwise, they are ‘anti-Hindus’ corrupting holy stories. The moment these filmmakers and actors step outside the norms of religion, they are punished. For example, there were calls and protests to ban Brahmastra because Ranbir Kapoor once called himself a beef lover.
It is important to acknowledge that this is particularly worse for women and actors from minority communities. The criticisms surrounding Adipurush, specifically targetting Saif Ali Khan as an ‘anti-Hindu’ Muslim and questioning Kriti Sanon’s suitability for the role of Sita due to her involvement in a ‘vulgar’ dance routine, are deeply rooted in Islamophobia and sexism. These actors are set up to fail when made part of religious promotions as they are held to impossible standards.
It doesn’t seem plausible that Bollywood will ever make these Hindu groups content, and it should stop attempting to court them now. There is socio-cultural value to stories and myths outside of religious sentiment. Bollywood should fall back on this form of storytelling rather than constantly trying and failing to get the blessings of communalistic, nationalistic Hindus.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)