T-Series has released the first teaser trailer for Adipurush, a mythical film based on the Ramayana that was produced for a long time. Prabhas, best known for his role in the Baahubali films, plays Lord Rama in this film directed by Om Raut. The trailer was unveiled in a spectacular ceremony at Ayodhya, the spot where Lord Ram was born. Until this teaser, no images from the Sanskrit film Adipurush (roughly “first man”) have been released to the public, with the exception of a poster earlier this week. Audiences are now getting a look at what Raut has been working on for years, and it’s safe to say that “half-finished animation” isn’t what anybody was expecting.
In his first film, the critically acclaimed historical epic Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, Raut extensively utilised green screens, and it looks like he has continued this trend in his next film, Adipurush. Several plays, books, and movies have been adapted from the Ramayana. It’s a story that almost everyone in India has heard, about good and evil, and it’s one that does not have anything to do with religion. It narrates the account of Lord Rama, who must confront the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, in order to save his wife, Sita, and is considered one of the most sacred books in Hinduism.
Lord Rama is helped in his quest by his brother Lakshmana, his friend Hanuman, and a troop of monkeys. Dussehra and Diwali are holidays observed by Hindus all over the world to commemorate Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya after he had defeated evil and rescued Sita. Kriti Sanon portrays Sita, Sunny Singh plays Lakshmana, while Saif Ali Khan plays Ravana. Khan and Raut had collaborated before on the film Tanhaji. He is well-known in the West for his role in Sacred Games, India’s first Netflix original series and a nominee for an International Emmy. Of course, Prabhas is the main attraction of RRR director SS Rajamouli’s box office smashes Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
Even Rajamouli’s most recent Telugu language smash, RRR, draws inspiration from Indian legendary epics. Some of the confrontational imagery in RRR’s climax is lifted straight from the Ramayana. Adipurush, on the other hand, feels quite antiquated despite supposedly costing approximately $60 million to create; RRR is a perfect illustration of how ambitious Indian movies can be despite comparatively modest budgets. It follows RRR and the more recent Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva as part of a new wave of commercially successful Indian films that represent the increase of right-wing political feelings in the nation.
This is background information that modern Western readers may lack, but it is important to include anyhow. Adipurush is not a Bollywood film in the traditional sense, but it will try to cash in on the growing audience for South Indian cinema. While most of the performers in Adipurush are from Bollywood, the film’s star, Prabhas, hails from the Telugu cinema industry. For maximum exposure, on January 12, 2023, Adipurush would be released in five languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. The movie will be shown in IMAX and 3D.