Adipurush was a ‘failed attempt’, says Manoj Muntashir as memes flood internet post Ramayana trailer

Ever since the trailer for Ranbir Kapoor’s Ramayana was released, social media has been flooded with clips from Om Raut’s Adipurush. If you open Instagram, the clips going viral are comparing Adipurush to Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana. Ironically, instead of a direct comparison, people are mostly making fun of Raut’s film, which many felt had made a mockery of the Hindu epic and the deities. Now, Manoj Muntashir, the writer of Adipurush, has spoken about the film again, calling it the “biggest mistake of his life.”

Manoj Muntashir calls Adipurush a ‘failed attempt’

Released in 2023, Adipurush drew massive backlash, and Muntashir was among those called out. He wrote the film, which was slammed for dialogues that were deemed indecent and objectionable.

Now, with social media once again talking about Adipurush and seemingly mocking how it presented the epic Ramayana, Muntashir has addressed it, saying that Raut’s film was a failed attempt.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Strategic Round Table on Capitalising India’s Telecom Decade in Mumbai, Manoj said, “It is better not to compare Ramayana with Adipurush. There should be no shame in admitting that Adipurush couldn’t meet expectations. The people associated with the film worked very hard, but it was a failed attempt. I am very proud that Adipurush’s music has reached people. The film’s music was a big hit. I hope the music of Ramayana matches that of Adipurush and goes beyond it.”

This isn’t the first time Muntashir has spoken about his work on Adipurush, which received huge backlash.

During his interview with Indian news channel Aajtak, he had said earlier that, ''It's a 100 per cent mistake.''

"There is no doubt about it. I am not such an insecure person that I would defend my writing skills by saying that I have written well. It's a 100 per cent mistake. Yes, I made a big mistake. But, there was no bad intention behind that mistake. I had absolutely no intention of hurting the religion and causing trouble to Sanatan or to defame Lord Ram or to say something about Hanuman ji which is not there," he said.

''A mistake has been made. I have learned a lot from this accident and it was a great learning process. I will be very careful from now on,” he said.

Adipurush memes take the internet by storm after Ramayana trailer releases

The world has only got a glimpse of Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana, and with the film now set for release, netizens have started digging up Om Raut’s Adipurush. The 2023 film not only presented the Ramayana in a shocking form, but was also accused of misrepresenting Hindu deities. While the makers had long apologised for their mistakes, netizens are clearly not ready to forgive anytime soon.

Ever since the Ramayana trailer dropped, clips of Saif Ali Khan as Raavana, Hanuman’s dialogues, and other scenes from Adipurush have taken the internet by storm.

Reacting to a clip of Adipurush, an X user wrote, “#Adipurush was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience... because nobody wants to experience it twice (sic).”

Another user wrote,''I still remember before the release his PR team started comparing Om Raut with SS Rajamouli.''

Third user wrote,''Not many people know that the Christopher Nolan’s entire vision for The Odyssey was heavily inspired by Adipurush. Nolan meticulously studied every single frame of Adipurush to master the sacred art of filmmaking, which helped him wrap The Odyssey in a mere 91 days. ‘’