Adipurush writers were immature, you cannot put dialogues in that way: Gangs of Wasseypur’s Zeishan Qadri

Om Raut’s Adipurush was one of the most-anticipated films to come out this year, but the film faced backlash after the release in June.

Writer-actor Zeishan Qadri has now called the writers of the film immature, adding that Ramayan is part of a religion and research was required before writing such a film. Zeishan was talking to ETimes in a new interview when he was asked about his views on Adipurush and the backlash that it received.

Immature writers of Adipurush
Zeishan told the daily, “I feel the writers were immature, you cannot put dialogues in the way they first presented in the movie. And if you feel that this is how mythological events are narrated, then sorry, you are not telling a katha (story). A film is a much larger scale and it has a worldwide release. I’m falling short of words for this. Whether you feel good or bad, but this was very immature writing and majorly it has upset the audience worldwide.”

He added, “Ramayan is not your life, you are just a writer. It is part of a religion and how can you take it so lightly. Even when we made a film like Wasseypur, we put in so much research, whether we are portraying things correctly or not. So, one needs to research their audience also. Ramayan has been created numerous times, any Indian would know about it irrespective of their religion. So you need to research the audience on how they will react, which I feel they missed out on.”

Said to be inspired by the Hindu mythological epic Ramayan, Adipurush was co-written by Om Raut and Manoj Muntashir. The film was largely attacked for inappropriate representation of the lead characters – Raghav aka Ram, Janaki aka Sita and Raavan. Prabhas played the role of Raghav while Kriti Sanon essayed the role of Janaki in the film that featured Saif Ali Khan as the menacing Raavan.

Soon after the filmmakers revealed the first look of the movie a few years ago, they received widespread backlash for ‘poor VFX and wrongful portrayal of the lead characters. After officially announcing that they would make changes, the film finally hit theatres in June this year.

The first objection came from Nepal where the film’s release was delayed due to the alleged wrongful portrayal of Janaki. Soon, many factions from within India filed cases against the film claiming that it hurt their religious sentiments. Manoj later issued an apology and a few changes were made to the dialogues of the film. A case is still pending in the Supreme Court with regard to Adipurush.

Made on an estimated budget of ₹500 crore, Adipurush earned ₹340 crore in first three days but the box office collections spiralled down soon after the weekend.

Zeishan Qadri

Zeishan rose to fame in 2012 when Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur caught the attention of the masses. Zeishan and Anurag co-wrote the film that also featured Zeishan in the role of Definite. He has since featured in several movies including Revolver Rani, Chhalaang and Bloody Daddy. He has also directed two films – Meeruthiya Gangsters and Bhoot Purva.