What went Wrong with Adipurush? | The Indian Film Industry Formula | Dhruv Rathee
Recently, the movie "Adipurush" was released, which drew inspiration from the epic Hindu tale, the Ramayana. The film managed to amass an impressive box office collection of 250 crores within the first three days of its release. However, despite its commercial success, the movie has faced intense criticism and negative reviews. In fact, many individuals have initiated boycott campaigns against the film. To delve into the reasons behind this widespread backlash, you can watch a comprehensive video analysis by Dhruv Rathee, which sheds light on the entire truth surrounding Adipurush.
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00:00Hello, friends.
00:01What a mess did Adipurush film create in the whole country?
00:04The bad dialogues, bad VFX and copied scenes of this film
00:08were criticized a lot.
00:10But by the time people realized, it was a little late.
00:13In the first 3 days, the film had earned 250 crores on the Indian box office.
00:19The thing is that the film completely crashed after that.
00:22Today, after 20 days of its release,
00:26it is not even able to cross 290 crores.
00:29It is almost out of theatres.
00:31But there is one question to think about
00:34when things have become so cold.
00:36What was the reason behind making this film?
00:38The film's director, dialogue writer, actors,
00:41no one thought about what they were going to make.
00:44If you think about it seriously,
00:47you will find some shocking things about the film industry.
00:50Adipurush was just an example
00:52of a new trend that is being seen in the film industry.
00:57Adipurush has been banned across Nepal.
00:59Manoj Muntashir Shukla, who wrote the dialogue for Adipurush,
01:02will have to appear in court.
01:03People have heard, read and seen Ramayana.
01:05It is exactly the same Ramayana.
01:06Nothing different.
01:07We are inspired by Ramayana.
01:09The film's downfall on the box office started
01:11because of negative reviews.
01:16Friends, if you hear that a film worth 700 crores
01:19is being made on an epic like Ramayana,
01:22then obviously, you will expect that
01:24small details will be taken care of.
01:26After all, this is a lot of money.
01:28Spending 700 crores here means
01:30that this is the most expensive film in the history of the country.
01:34So somewhere, this money will be spent well
01:36and small details will be taken care of.
01:39But forget the small details,
01:41the basic things in the story have been reversed.
01:44In Valmiki Ramayana, Jatayu is a vulture.
01:47But here, he was turned into an eagle.
01:49The filmmakers say that it was their creative liberty.
01:52Look at this painting by Jatayu,
01:54which was made by the eminent painter Ravi Varman.
01:57In this one painting, you will get more emotion
02:00from the entire scene of Adipurush.
02:02We all know about Ravan's Lanka
02:04that it is golden, according to Valmiki Ramayana.
02:07But here, they have made Lanka so black
02:10that it looks like it is made of coal.
02:12Ravan actually travels in a flowery plane.
02:15Like we have seen in the 1992 animated Ramayana.
02:18This was made by the Japanese,
02:20but what a wonderful Ramayana it was.
02:22And in Adipurush, Ravan is actually
02:24flying on a bat.
02:26By the way, is it a bat or a dragon?
02:29I don't understand.
02:30We have all heard about the monkey army.
02:32In some Ramayana versions,
02:34monkeys are shown in the monkey army.
02:36But in Adipurush,
02:38a gorilla is shown in the monkey army.
02:40Where did a gorilla come from?
02:42Gorillas are not native to India.
02:44They are only found in Africa.
02:46In Valmiki Ramayana, there is a description
02:48of how Ravan kidnaps Sita.
02:51But in Adipurush,
02:53Sita becomes unconscious
02:55and starts flying in the air.
02:57As if a horror film like Evil Dead is going on.
02:59If we talk about Hollywood films,
03:01we see some weird similarities.
03:03For example, Ravan's Lanka
03:05looks more similar to Thor's Asgard.
03:08And looking at this background,
03:10it looks like the background was taken
03:12from the Temple Run game.
03:14And these flying demons
03:16look like Harry Potter's dementors.
03:18Is there really creative liberty
03:20being used here?
03:22Or was it copied liberty?
03:24Forget this, in Adipurush,
03:26many important details of Ramayana
03:28are shown in a wrong way.
03:30For example, when Lord Ram helps Sugriv
03:32and his brother Bali,
03:34there are two fights.
03:36Because for the first time,
03:38Lord Ram cannot tell the difference
03:40between Sugriv and Bali
03:42because they are identical looking brothers.
03:44But in the film,
03:46only one fight is shown.
03:49And it seems that Sita is not there.
03:51Then we see Ram Vilap's
03:53beautiful scene.
03:55He goes in search of Sita
03:57and finds Jatayu.
03:59Jatayu tells him that Ravan
04:01has kidnapped Sita.
04:03But what is shown in this film?
04:05Ram and Lakshman are watching
04:07Ravan taking Sita.
04:09Looking at such mistakes,
04:11it seems that there is no
04:13creative liberty here.
04:15Basically, the people who made
04:17Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas
04:19are not only our religious scriptures
04:21but also examples of literary excellence.
04:23The way they have been written
04:25in rhythmic poetry,
04:27that is why we call them
04:29Mahakavya.
04:31But what is this literary element
04:33in Adipurush?
04:35Is it your aunt's garden
04:37that has come here to walk?
04:39Or the dialogues like Jaladi,
04:41where do they fit in Ramayana?
04:43The film makers say that
04:46if this was the case,
04:48why wasn't the entire story
04:50based in today's times?
04:52Then why can't the characters
04:54be used in today's times?
04:56Actually, these are all excuses
04:58to sell the film.
05:00Before its release,
05:02Manoj Muntasher had said
05:04that this film is totally
05:06based on Ramayana.
05:08He has not done anything
05:10wrong with it.
05:12And now he says
05:14that this film is only inspired
05:16by Ramayana,
05:18a retelling.
05:22But does calling Bhagwan Ram
05:24as Raghav make this film
05:26a retelling?
05:28Some good retellings are
05:30Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool film,
05:32which is a retelling of Macbeth.
05:34Or Omkara, a retelling of Othello.
05:36Or Rajneeti Prakash Jha's film,
05:38which is a retelling of Mahabharat.
05:41It is set in a modern period.
05:43There is political rivalry
05:45between two political clans.
05:47Many creative liberties
05:49have been used.
05:51But the principles and values
05:53of Mahabharat, greed,
05:55envy, hunger for power,
05:57are also used.
05:59Even Bahubali is said
06:01to be a loosely inspired
06:03retelling of Mahabharat.
06:05The truth is that
06:07he has copied the entire
06:09story of Mahabharat,
06:11Rise of Planet of the Apes.
06:13In fact, the dialogues
06:15are also copied from YouTube videos.
06:17Amogh Leela Das had said,
06:19Kapda Ravan ka, Tel Ravan ka,
06:21Aag Ravan ki.
06:23Ghee kiska? Ravan ka.
06:25Kapda kiska? Ravan ka.
06:27Aag kiski? Ravan ki.
06:29Jali kiski? Ravan ki.
06:31Was Amogh Leela Das
06:33the co-writer of this film?
06:35No, he wasn't.
06:38His grandmother used to tell him Ramayana like this.
06:40But still, is his grandmother
06:42the co-writer of this film?
06:44Manoj bhai, a writer has to write by himself.
06:46It's not like he has ever copied
06:48from a story-teller.
06:50He has never called Robert Lavery's poem,
06:52Call Me, in Hindi.
06:54Songwriter Shakeel Ajmi wrote,
06:56Mar ke mitti mein milunga,
06:58Khaad ho jaunga main,
07:00Phir khilunga, shaakh par abad ho jaunga main.
07:02So Manoj wrote,
07:04Teri mitti mein mil jawa,
07:06This entire film was made to exploit
07:08religious sentiments.
07:10The filmmakers thought that
07:12people will come to watch the film
07:14and earn a lot of money.
07:16So why waste time in small details?
07:18Let it happen.
07:20People will come to watch
07:22in the name of Ramayana,
07:24in the name of religious sentiments.
07:26And to exploit these sentiments,
07:28sometimes, what drama did these people do?
07:30They said that in every cinema hall,
07:32one seat should be left empty for Lord Hanuman.
07:35Recently, the Adipur team made an interesting announcement.
07:37One seat in every theatre
07:39will be unsold during the Adipur screening.
07:41But for whom?
07:43It will be dedicated to Lord Hanuman
07:45to celebrate the beliefs of people.
07:47Then he said that whenever I used to go to write a film,
07:49I used to take off my shoes and go to the office.
07:51This is my first picture out of 70 films.
07:53When I used to write,
07:55the office where I used to write,
07:57I used to leave my shoes outside.
07:59No matter how much drama you make these people do,
08:01to sell your film,
08:03you used religion again and again.
08:05You used all the shortcut methods
08:07to exploit people.
08:09You just never took time
08:11to read Valmiki Ramayana or Ramcharitmanas.
08:13If these people had taken time to read it,
08:15it could have been a good film.
08:17And finally, they could have learned
08:19the lesson of why Ravan was drowned.
08:21He was drowned because of his ego.
08:23The biggest lesson of Ramayana is
08:25don't be egoistic like Ravan.
08:27Be humble like Ram.
08:29Muntishir was blamed the most
08:32for spending so much time promoting the film.
08:34But the blame should go to the film's director,
08:36Om Rao and the film's producer,
08:38Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.
08:40How could such a bad screenplay be approved?
08:42Why was it approved?
08:44Now, here comes the topic of a trend
08:46that has been seen in the film industry
08:48for a long time now.
08:50A trend of making formula films.
08:52Films that make the most profit
08:54and whose main aim is
08:56to make only profit.
08:58The originality and creativity
09:00of these films and their lessons
09:02should go to hell.
09:04These formula films work on some rules.
09:06Rule No. 1.
09:08Never try anything new.
09:10Do what you know is going to make
09:12the most profit.
09:14Rule No. 2.
09:16Action films.
09:18Action films have the highest success rate.
09:20If you look at the list of 50 highest
09:22grossing Indian films on Wikipedia,
09:24you'll see that this genre
09:26is the most watched.
09:29Bahubali, KGF, Pathan, 2.0,
09:31Tiger Zinda Hai, Dhoom 3, Vikram,
09:33War, Brahmastra, Chennai Express,
09:35Saaho, Kick, Simba, Krish 3,
09:37Bang Bang, Rice, Race 3.
09:39There are so many action films.
09:41But if you look at the list of highest
09:43grossing films, Adjusted for Inflation,
09:45you'll see a very different picture.
09:47After adjusting for inflation,
09:49many old films also come up in the list
09:51which shows that the earlier films
09:53used to make a lot of profit
09:55without being an action film.
09:57Like Shree 420, DDLJ, Mughal-e-Azam,
09:59Family Drama like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun,
10:01Social Drama like Mother India,
10:03Naya Daur, Patriotic films like Kranti.
10:05But in this age of Insta Reels
10:07and Snapchat Streaks,
10:09it is said that if you go to watch films,
10:11leave your heart and mind at home.
10:13Stop making intellectual
10:15and emotional films.
10:17People's attention span is decreasing
10:19so make action films.
10:21All these action films have the same story
10:23in which there is a hero who fights
10:26a villain and defeats the villain.
10:28Sometimes the hero and villain are
10:30two kings, sometimes the hero is
10:32an army soldier and the villain
10:34is a Pakistani soldier.
10:36Sometimes the hero is a RAW agent
10:38and the villain is a terrorist.
10:40Sometimes the hero is a policeman
10:42and the villain is a mafia ganglord.
10:44There will always be fights, bullets,
10:46swords, kicks and punches.
10:48But there should be a fight.
10:50If possible, make a sequel,
10:52prequel or remake of a film.
10:55If people like it, they will come
10:57to watch it again.
10:59If a film is a part of a franchise
11:01or a film universe, it is even better.
11:03This trend can be seen everywhere.
11:05Bollywood, Tollywood or Hollywood.
11:07Avengers, Fast and Furious, KGF, Krrish,
11:09Golmaal, Dhamaal, Singam, Phukre,
11:11Bhool Bhulaiya, Drishyam.
11:13Familiar characters have a recall value.
11:15So the audience comes to the theatre
11:17no matter how bad the sequel is.
11:19Welcome was a great film by Akshay Kumar
11:21in 2007.
11:24But to make money,
11:26a sequel was made.
11:28How many of you know about the sequel?
11:30Similarly, Dhamaal.
11:32Two sequels of Dhamaal were made.
11:34The sequels of Golmaal are being made.
11:36The first film made money
11:38so the sequels are almost guaranteed
11:40to make money.
11:42Very few filmmakers can resist
11:44these things.
11:46Like Anurag Kashyap.
11:48He was asked in an interview
11:50if he would make the third part
11:53Gangs of Wasseypur had two parts
11:55because the story was so long.
11:57They were made together from the start.
11:59Anurag Kashyap had said that
12:01he wanted to make new films
12:03instead of milking the success of that movie.
12:05When will Gangs of Wasseypur 3 come?
12:07No, it won't come.
12:09I don't want to make a Wasseypur Universe.
12:11People think differently.
12:13Everything has a universe.
12:15I don't want to make anything.
12:17I want to make my own films.
12:19Rule number 4.
12:22Tamil film Arjun Reddy's remake
12:24Kabir Singh.
12:26Telugu film Mariada Ramanna's remake
12:28Son of Sardar.
12:30Marathi film Sehrat was a hit
12:32so the Hindi film industry made a remake.
12:34Original Malayalam film Drishyam was a hit
12:36so it was remade in Hindi.
12:38Malayalam film Ramji Rao Speaking
12:40became a hit in Hindi.
12:42Film like Devdas has been remade
12:4416 times.
12:46Rule number 5.
12:48Remake old songs
12:50People have a recall value
12:52people will watch new songs.
12:54Run them on FM channels, DJ floors
12:56and Insta Reels.
12:58Rule number 6.
13:00Get superstars in your lead roles.
13:02Celebrity worship is seen all over the world
13:04but in India, it reaches a next level.
13:06People always think
13:08that our favourite actor
13:10should watch his first day first show film.
13:12People like these labels
13:14that I am a die hard fan.
13:16If you see the list of 50 highest grossing films
13:18there are only 4 films
13:20that don't have a superstar.
13:22Hindi Medium, Kashmir Files, Uri
13:24and Kantara.
13:26Rule number 7.
13:28Cast familiar faces in side roles.
13:30Watch this Run film clip.
13:42Do you know Pankaj Tripathi?
13:44In 2003,
13:46he made his debut with a small role.
13:48But for the next 6-7 years,
13:50he struggled.
13:52He begged for new roles but no one listened.
13:54In 2012,
13:56he was noticed in Gangs of Wasseypur.
13:58Then he started getting offers
14:00like no other character artist
14:02was left.
14:04Same thing with Sanjay Mishra.
14:06In 1995,
14:08he started out.
14:10He struggled for many years.
14:12But when he was noticed,
14:14he made 16 films in 2015.
14:16This audition concept,
14:18casting calls concept,
14:20is a fraud for most of the big films.
14:22Producers don't want to experiment
14:24with new faces to keep their profit risk-free.
14:26Nor do they want to experiment
14:28with the stories of new films.
14:30Rule number 8.
14:32The set design and the scenes
14:34don't need to be thought in a new, creative,
14:36original way.
14:38If possible, copy them from Hollywood films.
14:40You will get many examples of this.
14:42In Pathan,
14:44many scenes were copied from Avengers,
14:46Furious 7, Captain America,
14:48Iron Man 2, Dark Knight,
14:50Mission Impossible 3, No Time to Die,
14:52Uncharted 2.
14:54Look at Adi Purush Mahi.
14:56I gave you the first examples.
14:58Rule number 9.
15:00Don't question the wrong mindset of people.
15:02Don't criticize.
15:04Always try to appease the public.
15:06If our society
15:08sees women as objects,
15:10we should show them in our films.
15:12Don't question them.
15:14Whether it's Honey Singh or Badshah's cheap,
15:16misogynist songs,
15:18or the item songs of the films,
15:20like Munni Badnaam, Sheela Ki Jawani,
15:22Fevicol.
15:24If you see a lot of stalking in the society,
15:26normalize it in the films.
15:28Even romanticize it.
15:30Films like Ranjana and Tere Naam.
15:32If you are asked about these things,
15:34tell them that it's a film,
15:36watch it like a film.
15:38Films have no impact on the society.
15:58Whether it's glamorizing the gangsters,
16:00like Once Upon a Time in Mumbai,
16:02or Abdul Latif in Raees.
16:04If you try to show the society more,
16:06there will be a lot of risk.
16:08There are many films that raise social issues,
16:10like Article 15,
16:12Udaan, or Secret Superstar.
16:14But there is a lot of risk in these films.
16:16And finally, rule number 10.
16:18Make everything larger than life
16:20and do a great marketing.
16:22Run the film's wave.
16:24Publish articles in all the newspapers.
16:26Go to the Kapil Sharma show.
16:28Go to the radio shows.
16:30After the release of the film,
16:32keep publishing how much money
16:34the film has earned.
16:36How big a hit it is on the box office.
16:38If there is so much conversation about it,
16:40people will have a FOMO.
16:42Fear of missing out.
16:44People will wonder what's happening here.
16:46There is a lot of talk about it.
16:48Let me go and see what people are talking about.
16:50Now take a film like Tumbaat.
16:52It has earned only 14 crores on the box office.
16:54But it's difficult to find a single person
16:56who has seen this film but didn't like it.
16:58On the other hand,
17:00take the example of a film like Aadipurush.
17:02It has earned 407 crores.
17:04But hardly anyone liked this film.
17:06Or Aadipurush is a good example of this.
17:08So much hype was created about the film
17:10that people pre-booked it.
17:12This is the reason that
17:14Aadipurush earned so much money in the first 3 days.
17:16But after 3 days,
17:18when people realized that this film is so bad
17:20that it is not worth watching,
17:22then it got its effect on the box office.
17:24But still, 200-300 crores
17:26were earned.
17:28You might think that only bad films
17:30come in our film industry.
17:32But it's not like that.
17:34There are many examples of good films.
17:36Three Idiots, Dangal, Secret, Superstar, Kantara.
17:38These are such films that have earned a lot of money.
17:40But the thing is that
17:42most of the people in the film industry
17:44don't want to take such risks.
17:46There is a lot of risk in these films.
17:48So stick to your formula of making films.
17:50Guaranteed profit will come from there.
17:52Those who made Aadipurush
17:54followed this formula rule by rule.
17:56They will make a film on Ramayana.
17:58Which already has a big recall value.
18:00People will definitely come to watch it.
18:02We will put a lot of action in the film.
18:04We will copy a lot of scenes from Hollywood films.
18:06We will include a big superstar like Prabhas
18:08in our film so that his fans also come to watch it.
18:10We followed everything here.
18:12But what was the mistake?
18:14We followed the formula.
18:16But why didn't we get this extra 2A as well?
18:18Because the thing is that
18:20you have to use your brain while following the formula.
18:22These people were so lazy while making this film
18:24that they didn't think about it.
18:26The aim was to print the most money.
18:28The people who were thinking of exploiting
18:30these religious sentiments,
18:32those religious sentiments went against them.
18:34I am not saying that focusing on earning money
18:36is wrong here.
18:38The problem comes when
18:40earning money is your real aim.
18:42Even though there are many good films
18:44in our film industry.
18:46But the number of good films is
18:48decreasing year by year.
18:50As an audience, if you want to make
18:52a good film, there are places
18:54where you can watch good films.
18:56Go and watch them in cinemas.
18:58Tumbbad, Raazi, Queen, Ugly,
19:00Article 15, The Lunchbox, English Vinglish.
19:02Don't make Sehrat and Kantara
19:04as exceptions.
19:06Being a hit in such films should be a norm.
19:08What is your opinion?
19:10Write your favourite film in the comments below.
19:12If you liked the video,
19:14you can click here to watch
19:16my Ramayan video.
19:18Thank you very much.
19:22Music.
19:24Music.
19:26Music.