Let’s imagine you want to see “Adipurush,” a brand-new mythical action-fantasy from India, without giving too much thought to what has gone before. Despite the connections that come with Prabhas, who tops the marquee in both of S.S. Rajamouli’s fashion-setting “Baahubali” period action fantasies, you want to approach the theatre with as little baggage as possible. You might be interested in watching a fantastic adaptation of The Ramayana, or the most frequently adapted scenes from that Sanskrit-language epic poem, in which the arrow-throwing god Raghava, also known as Ram (Prabhas), saves his abducted wife Sita, or Janaki (Kriti Sanon), from the evil multi-headed god Lankesh/Ravana (Saif Ali Khan).
In India, where trend articles, interviews, and reviews are written, “Adipurush” has only recently premiered here in the United States, but it is already generating controversy due to Lankesh’s peculiar nu-metal gel-spiked haircut, which has drawn comparisons to the Muslim leader Alauddin Khilji. Sanon’s choice to play Sita sparked controversy as well as regrettably successful censorship requests. In “India’s Daughter,” Sanon, who plays Sita, has performed provocative dances in previous films, which offends some vociferous critics.
Is it feasible to watch, much alone appreciate, such a clichéd tale without drawing too many obtrusive parallels to other films or current political events? Or are those linkages “Adipurush,” whose Sanskrit title is “First Man,” and whose large budget (Rs 500 crore, or roughly $67 million), purportedly exceeds all previous Indian mega-productions, at the same time the greatest appeal and difficulty for the film? Since there is so much poor green-screen image-compositing in “Adipurush,” and it all looks cheap and uninspired, the film’s shoddy computer graphics could perhaps overshadow all other factors.
You may feel otherwise, but the first hour (or more) of “Adipurush” seems to drag on due to shoddy and garish visual effects. The boisterous cheers of Prabhas’ admirers quickly subsided after his successful opening scene, in which Raghava almost single-handedly vanquishes an army of demonic wraiths, at this Union Square theatre in Manhattan on a crowded Thursday afternoon matinee. It took a minute for the audience’s stillness to be audible over the film’s normally thunderous music, but it soon became obvious. “Adipurush” has been pre-sold to audiences based on what they already know: how can you go wrong by adapting a well-known epic starring superheroic Hindu gods, uncanny valley animal-people, and monster antagonists? So, have any recent Marvel films caught your eye?
It is now easy to comprehend why an SFX-driven event title like “Adipurush” could cost so much and yet look so terrible. Recent comments from irate workers of Marvel’s visual effects labs help to explain this. It’s tougher to comprehend how the filmmakers of this film could have been content with crucial establishing moments, such as when Janaki swoons when she and Raghava are lovingly ringed by a flock of shoddy pink flamingos.
The fact that so many of the character motions solely serve to showcase computer images that make the theatrical version of “Justice League” seem professional causes dramatic inertia in several song moments, notably those starring Janaki and Lankesh. The explanatory conversation and fake poetry in the song lyrics seem to have been translated exactly. Then there are the completely fake visual effects, which turn everything—especially the emotionless facial expressions of a typically kind ensemble cast—into video game cut scenes. In other words, “Adipurush” has several issues, however it’s unlikely that most spectators will be able to see beyond the film’s obvious issues on the surface.
There is some hope at the end, but only if you are inclined to see “Adipurush” as one of a select few trend-chasers, whose numerous generic elements refer to everything, including HBO’s “Game of Thrones” series, Peter Jackson’s original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and yes, Rajamouli’s “Baahubali” two-parter. Scenes starring the kind-hearted ape deity Bajrang/Hanuman (Devdatta Nage) blatantly copy the most recent Andy Serkis-fronted, motion capture-heavy “Planet of the Apes” films. It doesn’t matter how unoriginal these often criticised themes are as much as how tragically flat-footed this film’s presentation is; it only sometimes picks up during the pivotal battle between Raghava and Lankesh and their respective armies.
When Raghava, his brother Sesh/Laxmana (Sunny Singh), and Bajrang face off against Lankesh and his superhumanly quick second-in-command, Indrajit (Vatsal Sheth), in the film’s steadily building conclusion, only then does “Adipurush” really seem like a movie that was directed and not merely covered. Some of us anticipated “Adipurush” since it was directed by Om Raut, whose previous film “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior” similarly held together amid action-packed, dramatic combat sequences. Even in slow-motion combat, “Adipurush” still has an unattractive appearance and moves awkwardly, but at least the tight focus of these closing sequences adds some dramatic intensity to the film.
It’s difficult to envision a moviegoer being pleased by this lacklustre spectacle based just on what “Adipurush” presents. Everybody on film is swimming about in a huge computer-generated wasteland, dwarfed by the characters that are larger than life. Here, everything is large, yet nothing seems spectacular.
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