‘No need to use Tapori language,’ says Mahabharat actor Girija Shankar on Adipurush dialogues

On June 16, Om Raut released his magnum opus, Adipurush in theatres. A retelling of the epic Ramayana, the Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan starrer got caught in a sea of backlash upon release. The dialogues of Adipurush especially have been criticised.

Lord Hanuman’s exchange with Indrajeit before ‘Lanka dahan’ has become a topic of discussion. So much was its affect that even the makers decided to change those dialogues. Now, actor Girija Shankar who played Dhritrashtra in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, has presented his take on the issue.

Girija Shankar on Adipurush

In a conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor revealed that he hasn’t yet seen Adipurush. He said, “I have seen a few clips, teasers and trailers. And to tell you the truth, I didn’t kind of like that because it seems very platonic and a lot more computer graphics oriented things rather than the real content. But I can’t comment on the movie because I haven’t seen that.”

However, he did have his opinion on the film’s controversial dialogues. Shankar said, “I have heard them in a couple of clippings on social media. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know how to react. How can a character like Hanuman or any other characters speak this language, the way they have been spoken into this film? I think they could have done better.”

He added, “There was no need to use this Tapori colloquial language which is the language of the masses. After all, we are portraying our much cherished Ramayan – Ram Charitramanas and this has been played for years and years and ages. I think instead of talking in this language, they could have done much better. They could have found better way of talking, better dialogues, so that would have set a trend for the coming generations that how good the content is and how good and how well portrayed it is in a very decent language and vocabulary.”

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On Adipurush and Mahabharat comparison

Shankar insisted that nobody ‘should think’ of comparing Mahabharat with Adipurush. He asserted, “Mahabharat is totally into its own league. It’s a classic and the whole team was very, very talented and highly educated or knowing more about our culture, about our heritage, about our Vedas and Shastras, and very experienced into their own fields like BR Chopra, Rahima Sun Raza, Ravi Chopra, Pandit Narendra Sharma, Bhing Tupkari, Satish Bhatnagar.”

Adipurush has been marred with controversies for a long time. However, even with the backlash, it has crossed Rs 400 crores collection at the worldwide box office.

Also Read: Adipurush dialogue writer Manoj Muntashir says Bajrang Bali’s dialogues were ‘meticulously thought’: It was not an error