Maharashtra Congress, Hindu groups rile against ‘Adipurush’

Questioning whether the Censor Board was 'sleeping', the Maharashtra Congress on Monday demanded a ban on the Bollywood film "Adipurush" for insulting Hindu religious idols. Even the national President of Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha, Suresh Mishra, has also demanded a ban on the movie with immediate effect.

Maharashtra Congress president, Nana Patole, said that Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman have been 'insulted' in the film that was released last weekend and sparked outrage in different states.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party always keeps shouting that it is a pro-Hindutva government, but when it concerns a movie that heaps abuse on Lord Ram and Shri Hanuman, it has kept silent," said Patole.

Mishra, on the other hand, claimed that there was a conspiracy being hatched to insult ‘Hanuman ji’ and other deities through ‘Adipurush’. Mishra slammed the poor usage of animation for the lead characters.

“The film is sending a very contradictory message to the society. Movies impact people's mind. That's why special care should be taken so that films don't tamper with religion and culture. The looks of the mythological characters and their dialogues in the film are sub-par. The film wrongly depicts the characters of Lord Rama, Hanuman, Sita and Ravan. The film is an insult to Ramayana. It is like playing with the faith of crores of Hindus," Mishra said.

Maharashtra Congress President also said that the character of Shri Hanuman has been given 'slang dialogues' and in the name of making the Rs 500-crore budget movie, "they have made a cartoon film".

"How was this film cleared in the first place? Was the Central Board of Film Censors sleeping at the time? We demand that the film be banned and the film-makers should apologise to the people of India for the insults to Lord Ram and Shri Hanuman," said Patole.

‘Adipurush’ has sparked off strong protests in different parts of India, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and other states, with several Hindu groups taking strong umbrage over the dialogues.

The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha President, Suresh Mishra, had said that Om Raut, the director of the movie, had earlier reassured the Hindu organisation that “nothing wrong will be shown in the film”. He added, “But we now see that all the characters of Ramayana have been made fun of in the film.”

As of now, Mishra has demanded Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, to ban ‘Adipurush’ with immediate effect.