The Supreme Court has been moved, seeking direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to revoke the certificate for public exhibition of the film ‘Adipurush,’ a movie based on the Hindu epic Ramayana.

Lawyer Mamta Rani in her public interest litigation plea has sought a ban on the exhibition of Om Raut’s ‘Adipurush’ as it hurts the sentiments of Hindus and devotees of various deities shown in the film.

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Alleging that the film ‘Adipurush’ alters the basic structure of Valmiki Ramayana, the PIL petitioner has sought direction “to protect and preserve all the religious manuscripts and texts in their original form at all platforms and prohibit distortion of the above-said texts/manuscripts by anyone.”

The petitioner has contended that ‘Adipurush’ is a mockery of Valmiki Ramayana, which has been fuelled by personal commercial gain.

“The whole story of the film has destroyed and modified every aspect of the core values of the characters, their language and each authentic event,” says the petition.

Objecting to some of the dialogues in the film and stating that only ‘gully boys’ use such ‘derogatory’ language, the PIL petitioner advocate has said, “The sacred fundamental texts and manuscripts are the basic spiritual and physical tenets of a cultured and civilized society which a common man of such a society relies [on] and lives [by]. A man becomes an orphan like a fallen leaf from the branch of a tree without his culture and traditions.”

Expressing apprehension that such depiction would influence the general public into believing in “different value and morals,” the petition says, “Besides this, the depiction of the physical features and communication styles of Hindu gods – Rama and Hanuman – are complete distortions of not only the characters but also the very fundamental values for which they are worshipped”.

The film was severely criticised post release,
stars Prabhas as Lord Ram, Kriti as Goddess Sita, Sunny Singh as Laxman, and Saif Ali Khan as Ravana.