The much-discussed "Adipurush", a retelling of the Ramayana, released on Friday, drawing large crowds in many theatres, as well as mixed reviews from fans.
On the day of the theatrical release, reports emerged of a seat being reserved for Lord Hanuman (As announced by the director Om Raut), a man purportedly being beaten up in Hyderabad for criticising the film, and political parties lending their opinions on it too.
In Hyderabad, a man was purportedly beaten up for criticising the movie that he felt did not suit Prabhas' image.
His comments led to a heated argument between him and other fans of the Telugu star which soon turned into a physical altercation. There were also unverified reports of a man being beaten up for sitting in the seat reserved for Lord Hanuman.
Reactions from political parties
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday slammed the makers of the film for allegedly using "pedestrian dialogues" in the film.
In a tweet, she demanded an apology from the film's makers and said that the dialogues were disrespectful to the characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
"The dialogue writer of 'Adipurush' @manojmuntashir, as well as the director, should apologise to the nation for the pedestrian dialogues written for the movie, especially for Lord Hanuman," she tweeted.
"It hurts every Indian's sensibilities to see the kind of language being attributed to our revered gods in the name of entertainment. You make a movie on Maryada Purushottam Ram and cross all boundaries of Maryada for quick box office success is unacceptable," she added.
"The writer who calls Hanuman 'Tere Baap ki Jali' is not only a squid, but the Hindu is also a very vulgar type," she further said.
The film invited more trouble after Hindu Sena national president filed a PIL in the Delhi high court seeking the removal of some 'objectionable scenes' relating to "Ravana, Lord Ram, Mata Sita and Hanuman', Livelaw reported. The plea said the scenes deviate from the descriptions of the religious characters as found in the Ramayana by Maharishi Valmiki and Saint Tulsidas.
"The Hindus have a particular view of the image of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanuman and any change/tampering of their divine image by the film producers, directors and actors would be a violation of their fundamental rights," the plea stated.
The Congress too came down heavily on the writer of the film.
Comparing Adipurush with Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana, Congress's social media head Surpiya Shrinate said the veteran playwright and filmmaker did not hurt the faith of crores of people with the iconic TV show of the late 80s and early 90s but “imprinted a sweet, gentle and charming image of Ram and Sita on the minds and hearts of the society.”
“This is the difference between religion and the business of religion,” Shrinate wrote in a long post Twitter.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh said the movie once again proved that BJP is a cheap, 'sadak-chhap' party as the movie received blessings from several BJP and ally leaders including Yogi Adityanath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Manohar Lal Khattar, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Narottam Mishra.
"The BJP is not of the Ram, aam (general public) or kaam (work). It only does its dirty politics," AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
"The dialogues are so derogatory like kapda yere baap ka, tel tere baap ka, jalegi bhi tere baap ki/teri bua ka bagicha hai ktya jo hawa khane chala aya. Manoj Muntashir wrote whatever he was asked to write," he further said.
The day of the release witnessed further hiccups after screening of the film was put on hold in cinema halls across Kathmandu after City Mayor Balendra Shah asked the makers to rectify the mistake about the birthplace of Sita.
"Until the line 'Janaki is a daughter of India' contained in the South Indian film 'Adipurush' is removed not just in Nepal but also in India, no Hindi films will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City (sic)," Mayor Shah wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Nepal's film certification board also said that the permission to screen the film in theatres will be granted only after changing the dialogue that describes "Sita as India's daughter".
A day after the theatrical release of the film, some fans took to social media to criticise its substandard VFX and colloquial dialogues. However, the film minted Rs 140 crore (gross) globally, despite opening to mixed reviews, according to media reports.
