On June 27, the Allahabad High Court slammed the makers of ‘Adipurush’ for depicting religious characters, including Bhagwan Ram and Bhagwan Hanuman, in an objectionable manner, asking why the tolerance of Hindus was being put to a test.
The court’s Division Bench, comprising Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Shree Prakash Singh, said, “The one who is gentle should be suppressed? Is it so? It is good that it is about a religion, the believers of which did not create any public order problem. We should be thankful. We saw in the news that some people had gone to cinema halls (wherein the movie was being exhibited) and they only forced them to close the hall, they could have done something else as well.” The court added that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should have done something while granting certification to the movie.
The court further remarked, “Agar hum log ispar bhi aankh band kar len kyonki yeh kaha jaata hai ki yeh dharm ke log bade sahishnu hain to kya uska test liya jayega? (If we close our eyes on this as well because it is said that people of this religion are very tolerant, so will it be put to a test?),” while hearing two PILs against the exhibition and dialogues of the movie.
The court further said that religious scriptures, towards which the people are sensitive, should not be touched or encroached upon. Furthermore, the court said that these PILs were not propaganda petitions, and that the bench is concerned with a genuine issue. The court said, “The issue here (in the PIL pleas) is that the way the movie has been made, there are some scriptures which are exemplary and are worthy of worship. People recite Ramcharitmanas before leaving their homes.”
The court remarked that the movie depicted Bhagwan Ram, Bhagwan Laxman, Bhagwan Hanuman and Mata Sita were depicted in an objectionable manner as if they were nothing. The court further rapped the respondent’s contentions that a disclaimer was added to the movie and said, “Do the people who put the disclaimer consider the countrymen, and youth to be brainless? You show Lord Rama, Lord Laxman, Lord Hanuman, Ravana, Lanka and then say it is not Ramayana?”
The court asked the Dy Solicitor General how he would defend the movie considering it contains prima facie objectional scenes and dialogues. However, the court asked the Dy Solicitor General to seek instructions in the matter from a competent authority. The Dy Solicitor General argued that the objectionable scenes and dialogues in the movie have been changed, however, the court responded, “That alone won’t work. What will you do with the scenes? Seek instructions, then we will definitely do whatever we want to do…In case the exhibition of the movie is stopped, then the people whose feelings have been hurt, will get relief.”
The court allowed the application seeking to implead Manoj Muntashir, the dialogue writer for the movie, as a respondent in the PIL and directed for issuance of notice to him.
The court was hearing a PIL filed in December 2022, contending that the movie casts aspersions on the characters of Ramayana, tarnishing the image of Ayodhya and the Hindu religion in general. The PIL argued that the movie’s trailer was clumsy and indecent, hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.
Last week, an amendment plea was moved before the court seeking the impleadment of Manoj Muntashir as a respondent in the PIL, also objecting to the dialogues and contending them to be ‘ridiculous, ‘filthy’ and ‘against the glory of Ramayana.’
The plea said, “Manoj Muntashir has attacked rich culture & oldest civilization i.e., Sanatan Sanskriti, and while writing dialogues of the film, he has completely destroyed the language of our deities, hampered character of our icons & role models…(Shukla) has written HIGHLY OBJECTIONABLE, VERY LOW STANDARD, CHEAP AND FUNNY dialogues in the name of creative liberty…It offends sentiments of Hindu Community by presenting the religious characters in an inaccurate and inappropriate manner that goes against descriptions found in the works of authors like Maharishi Valmiki & Saint Tulsidas.”
“The portrayal of characters such as Ravana and Lord Hanuman in the film is completely divorced From Indian Civilisation. The bearded look of Ravan played by Saif Ali Khan in the Film is hurting the sentiments of the Hindu Community as the Brahmin Ravan is shown having raw red meat making a ghastly face in a wrong manner which is an insult to Hindu civilization,” the plea further said.
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