While there’s a lot of buzz around Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, Sunny Deol’s recent comments comparing the scope of the film to Avatar and Planet of the Apes has raised some concerns.
The fear is that a Western look will trigger another Adipurush. Can we avoid the same mistakes this time around?
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In 2023 Adipurush was heavily trolled for its Westernised take on Indian mythology. Vaanar Sena looked like a poor copy of Planet of the Apes.
The film didn’t work because it lacked cultural authenticity and that’s why there was so much disappointment.
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Sunny Deol’s statement does not inspire confidence that Ramayana will go down the same way. The likes of Baahubali won with the integration of cutting-edge technology and a deeply Indianized presentation.
Nitesh Tiwari needs to ensure that Ramayana focuses on its roots rather than spectacle at its cost.
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Indian epics are considered to be spiritual and cultural symbols, and cannot be reduced to Hollywood-style visual effects. It Ramayana turns away audiences with its Western aesthetic, it loses the connection there.
The approach should remain balanced-bending tradition along with technology-to avoid yet another disaster like Adipurush.
It can only succeed if it continues to be true to the ethos of India and blends the same with modern techniques for filmmaking.
Mythological cinema, through Nitesh Tiwari, has a last chance at redemption before another cautionary tale about Bollywood can be made in this movie.
