Adipurush controversy: How the movie has stirred a row over Sita’s birthplace

The Prabhas-Kriti Sanon-starrer Adipurush is making news in India as well as abroad. However, it might not be the news the filmmaker wanted. The movie based on Ramayana, directed by Om Raut, has run into all sorts of trouble – with political leaders across the spectrum objecting to the portrayal of Lord Hanuman, Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.

The movie is also facing trouble in neighbouring Nepal, with Kathmandu announcing that it won’t be showing any Indian movies in the area, as they object to a line in the movie which states that ‘Sita is the daughter of India’.

Why is Kathmandu unhappy over the dialogue? What action have they taken against the movie Adipurush?

Kathmandu bans all Indian movies

On Sunday, reports came in that Kathmandu had banned releases of all Indian movies in the area after they objected to the dialogue, ‘Sita is the daughter of India’ in the movie Adipurush. The move came after the mayor of Kathmandu expressed disappointment with the dialogue and claimed that Sita was born in Nepal.

Last Thursday, Mayor Balen Shah had taken to Twitter objecting to the dialogue and said that the producers have three days to alter this line if they want the film to be released as per schedule. Hours later, it was reported that the makers had complied with their demands and the movie was passed by Nepal’s censor board. However, on Friday morning, reports emerged that screenings of Adipurush were being cancelled, as they posed a threat to law and order.

On Sunday, the mayor once again took to his Twitter handle, issuing a statement and claiming ‘cultural encroachment’ on Nepal via Adipurush.

“If the film is shown as it is, it seems that Nepal’s nationality, cultural unity, and national identity will be severely damaged and irreparable damage will be done. Due to cultural encroachment on Nepal from that movie, this metropolitan city has attracted serious attention. By prohibiting the showing of the said film against the national interest within the Kathmandu metropolitan area, if the film is allowed to be shown in other areas of the country and abroad, it will establish a misleading fact, so it is prohibited to show any Indian film in the Kathmandu metropolitan city until the objectionable parts are removed from the said film.”

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— Balen Shah (@ShahBalen) June 18, 2023

Row over Sita’s birthplace

The anger over Adipurush is owing to the dialogue pertaining to Sita’s birth. For years, the birth of Sita remains shrouded in mystery; countless retellings of the Ramayana epic provide different stories of Sita’s origin.

In Nepal, many believe that Sita was born in Janakpur, the kingdom of Sita’s father King Janaka. It is here, they believe, that where the marriage between Ram and Sita was held. Janakpur is located today in the Madhesh Pradesh region of Nepal.

Janakpur also houses the famous Janaki Mandir, which is considered to be constructed at the place where Sita was born. The temple’s inner sanctum contains a flower-bedecked statue of Sita that was apparently miraculously found in the Saryu River near Ayodhya. In fact, it is said that anybody seeking a slice of the legend of Ramayana must visit the divine Janaki Temple.

However, there are others who believe that Goddess Sita was born in Sita Kund, Punaura Dham, situated in the Sitamarhi district of Bihar. Sita Kund is renowned for its hot springs, and locals in Sitamarhi believe that Sita underwent the fire ordeal, Agni Pariksha, and emerged unharmed, infusing the spring water with her inner heat.

In fact, if one asks the people of either places where Sita was born, the locals will state that theirs is the official birthplace of the Hindu goddess.

When asked about the dialogue, ‘Janaki (Sita) is the daughter of India’ in Adipurush, Manoj Muntashir Shukla, the dialogue writer, according to a Times Now report said that as Nepal was a part of India before 1903, Sita was born in India.

Amendment of dialogues

As the opposition to the Adipurush dialogues grows only louder, Manoj Muntashir Shukla on Sunday said that they had decided to “revise some of the dialogues”. He said the amended lines will be added to the film by this week.

“…For me there is nothing greater than your feelings. I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not lessen your pain. Me and the producer-director of the film have decided that we will revise some of the dialogues which are hurting you and they will be added to the film this week,” Shukla said in a statement shared on his official Twitter account.

रामकथा से पहला पाठ जो कोई सीख सकता है, वो है हर भावना का सम्मान करना.
सही या ग़लत, समय के अनुसार बदल जाता है, भावना रह जाती है.
आदिपुरुष में 4000 से भी ज़्यादा पंक्तियों के संवाद मैंने लिखे, 5 पंक्तियों पर कुछ भावनाएँ आहत हुईं.
उन सैकड़ों पंक्तियों में जहाँ श्री राम का यशगान…

— Manoj Muntashir Shukla (@manojmuntashir) June 18, 2023

“I wrote more than 4,000 lines as dialogues in Adipurush, some sentiments got hurt on five of those lines. In those hundreds of lines, where Shri Ram was glorified, Maa Sita’s chastity was described, I was hoping to receive praise for them, which I don’t know why I did not get,” he added.

Despite the controversy over the movie, the mythological feature is minting money at the box office. The movie has earned an impressive Rs 129 crore at the box office during its first weekend. The Hindi version of the drama earned Rs 37.25 crore on its first day and emerged as the second-highest opener of 2023 after Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan (Rs 57 crore).

With inputs from agencies

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