Adipurush Movie Review, Rating

Adipurush is the latest film to be released at the Indian box office. Unlike most movies, this is not a contemporary story. Right at the start, the film is introduced as an adaptation of Valmiki's Ramayanam, complete with some interesting interpretations. How does Om Raut narrate the story? Is the film worth a watch? In this review, we analyze the pros and cons of the latest cinematic telling of Lord Rama's story.  

Plot:

Raghava (Prabhas) gets banished from his kingdom just ahead of his coronation. For 14 years, he must live in a forest with his beloved wife Janaki (Kriti Sanon) and his loyal brother Lakshmana (Sunny Singh). Something terrible happens with the feared and powerful demon king Ravana (Saif Ali Khan) casts his evil eye on Janaki. He abducts her, leaving Raghava dejected. It falls on Hanuman (Devdatta Nage) and his fellow comrades to help Raghava defeat Ravana and his evil army.

Performances:

Prabhas is lovely throughout. One can have some complaints regarding how he doesn't get to dominate some stretches. But his acting is very much interesting. His dialogue delivery in the Telugu version is good, but the lip sync suffers here and there. Kriti Sanon interprets her role in her own way. She brings grace to the proceedings and doesn't sound melodramatic.

Saif Ali Khan acts in a conventional manner. He doesn't add a sense of dread to his evil character. Devdatta Nage fails to make the cut. Sunny Singh is another failure. The whole bunch of actors who play secondary characters fails to leave an impression.

Technical Departments:

Director Om Raut, who is also one of the producers, doesn't raise the bar on the technical front despite being equipped with hundreds of crores of budget. The Ajay-Atul duo's music is the saving grace. The BGM is inconsistent. The VFX is ineffective in a lot of scenes. The background score is not very rousing in the scenes involving Ravana. 

The film doesn't rise above a certain level of charm owing to largely lackluster technical elements.

Merits:

The storyline.
The divine element.
Some episodes in the first half.
Prabhas and Kriti Sanon.

Demerits:

The not-so-interesting battle sequence.
The characterization of Ravana.
The run-time of nearly three hours.
Lack of effect in some action moments.

Verdict: Watch this film if you want your kids to enjoy the slightly reimagined staging of the Ramayana. The divine feel is there.

Rating: 2.75