Adipurush: Manoj Muntashir defends Saif Ali Khan's Ravana look, questions 'which Alauddin Khilji wears rudraksha?'

Since the teaser of Adipurush was released at a grand event in Ayodhya on October 2, the film is being massively trolled and Saif Ali Khan's look as Ravana is being heavily criticised as netizens have pointed out that the Vikram Vedha actor looks more like the Mughal invaders such as Babar, Taimur, and Aurangzeb than Ravana, who was a Shiv devotee.

Now, famous lyricist Manoj Muntashir, who has written the dialogues for Adipurush, has defended Saif's look in Om Raut's cinematic adaptation of the Hindu epic in which Prabhas plays Lord Rama and Kriti Sanon plays Sita. The writer has asked people to stop judging the film based on its teaser and wait for its theatrical release.

Manoj, who began his career working as a scriptwriter for reality shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati and India's Got Talent, said to Times Now, "Which Alauddin Khilji wears rudraksha and applies tilak on his forehead. I ain't talking about the full movie but you can see that Ravana is wearing rudraksha, and tilak, and talking about the beard, it is a creative visualization of Om Raut. Earlier, moustache was used for villains' identity. Ravana in Adipurush has all characteristics".

Known for penning songs such as Teri Mitti, Galliyan, and Kaun Tujhe among others, he continued, "People are watching from one angle and judging the movie by the one-minute teaser. And I proudly say that I can never be a part of the narrative that depicts Ram wrongly even if I can protest against such things happening."

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Bankrolled by T Series and Retrophiles, Adipurush is slated to release on January 12, 2023. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Om, Prasad Sutar, and Rajesh Nair, the big-budget film will be released in IMAX and 3D versions in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada.