Manoj Muntashir defends ‘jalegi tere baap ki’ line in Adipurush, says it’s not an error: ‘I’m not first to write this’

Manoj Muntashir, who has co-written the lines and lyrics of Adipurush, has defended the ‘dialogues for Bajrang Bali’. In a new interview, Manoj was asked if he deliberately tried to oversimplify the lines and he replied ‘yes, completely’. After criticism over a particular line, Manoj also explained why he chose to write it in such a style. (Also Read | Ramanand Sagar’s son criticises Prabhas’ Adipurush, alleges Om Raut changed facts)

Adipurush line criticised

A particular line received heavy criticism. It was when Devdatta Nage as Bajrang said, “Kapda tere baap ka, aag tere baap ki, tel tere baap ka, jalegi bhi teri baap ki.” Directed by Om Raut, the film features Prabhas as Raghav, Kriti Sanon as Janaki and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh.

Manoj on film’s lines

In an interview with Republic World, Manoj said, “It is not an error. It is a very meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogues for Bajrang Bali and for all the characters. We have made it simple because we have to understand one thing if there are multiple characters in a film, all cannot speak the same language. There has to be a kind of diversion, a kind of division.”

He also added, “Humare yahan daadiyan, naniyan jab Ramayan ki kathaye sunati thi, jo isi bhaasha mein sunaati thi. Yeh dialogue jiska aapne zikar kiya, yeh iss desh ke sant, bade bade katha vachak aisi hi bolte hai jaise maine likha hai (When grandmothers narrated the tales of Ramayan they used this language. The dialogue you mentioned, priests and narrators used to say in the same way I have written). I am not the first one to write this dialogue, it’s already there.”

Fans’ reaction to Adipurush

Fans gathered in theatres riding on high emotions to watch the film. However, several people criticised the lines in the film. A section of the people called it ‘tapori’ style lines. The film also faced criticism for the quality of its VFX. Adipurush, produced by T-Series, released across the nation in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. As per the film’s team, Adipurush has minted ₹140 crore globally on day one of its release.

Hindustan Times review of Adipurush

The Hindustan Times review of the film read, “Adipurush is merely a Bollywood-ised version of one of the most epic tales that ever existed. If you keep the story aside for it’s largely known to all, the execution turns out to be a messy blend of over-the-top CGI and passable VFX, and making it worse are the intentionally funny dialogues that sound misplaced in a sensitive and mythological story. Why would you want Hanuman to say ‘Jalegi tere baap ki’?”