Adipurush actor Siddhant Karnick defends film: ‘We need to show our gods are cooler than superheroes’

Actor Siddhant Karnick, who plays Vibhishan in Adipurush, Om Raut’s interpretation of Ramayana, has defended the film against all the flak it’s getting for its dialogues and visual aesthetic. He argues that pop culture needs to be milked appropriately for the story of the Hindu epic to resonate with the new generation. (Also Read: Adipurush box office collection day 12: Om Raut’s film mints just ₹1.90 crore, total earnings stand at ₹279.78 crore)

Siddhant Karnick plays Vibhishan, Ravana’s altruistic brother who defies him after the he kidnaps Sita, and joins Rama and his forces in rescuing his wife and avenging the abduction. He’s the one who suggests Rama hit Ravana in his navel in order to kill him.

Siddhant defends Adipurush

“I see my nephews and even some adult friends of mine wearing superhero T-shirts which are largely fictional characters like Spider-Man and Superman. And here we have our own itihaas (history) filled with superheroes and mythological gods whose stories and images are still in text form. We need to use pop culture smartly so we can pass on the stories of our gods to the next generation of children, show them that our gods are cooler and far more layered than fictional superheroes. I’m not saying we should shun Western superheroes. Not at all, but it’s time we brought focus to our own gods and bring these stories in a language of superheroes that today’s children are used to,” Siddhant says in an interview to ETimes.

He added that he realised the same while watching a 10-year-old kid dancing joyously during the end-credits of Adipurush at a regular screening. “He looked like he was having the time of his life. And it just hit me that this is a film that kids must see to get acquainted intimately with our epics and stories,” he said in the same interview.

About Adipurush criticism

Adipurush faced backlash on social media for its poor VFX and controversial dialogues including ‘marega bete’, ‘bua ka bagicha hain kya’ and ‘jalegi tere baap ki’. From critics to reviewers, several people from across the country expressed disappointment over the film’s certain dialogues. Amid such flak, the team of Adipurush revamped the dialogues. However, the box office numbers have been nosediving.