PIL Before Delhi High Court Against Adipurush Cites 'Inaccurate And Inappropriate' Depiction Of Religious Characters

A PIL has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking removal or rectification of alleged objectionable scenes related to Ravana, Lord Ram, Mata Sita and Hanuman from the feature film 'Adipurush' which are allegedly contrary to the depictions of the religious characters in the epic Ramayana. The Plea also challenges the certificate under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 granted to film. The Petitioner says that the plea has not been numbered by the registry yet and that his prayer at the time of filing of the petition, not to grant a certificate, will be modified to challenge the certificate given.  

The movie directed by Om Raut was released across the country today. The PIL has been filed by Vishnu Gupta, the National President of Hindu Sena and it arrays the Director and Producers of the movie, in addition to official parties. 

The PIL claims that the Petitioner has knowledge about the movie from news reports and that the movie hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community by depicting the religious figures in an inaccurate and inappropriate manner, contrary to the description Ramayana authored by writers like Maharishi Valmiki, Saint Tulsidas etc.

The petition says that the depiction of religious characters like Ravana, played by Saif Ali Khan and Lord Hanuman in the Film is completely detached from the Indian civilization. "The bearded look of Ravana’s character played by Saif Ali Khan in the film is hurting the sentiments of Hindu community as the Hindu Brahmin Ravana is shown making a ghastly face in a wrong manner which is an absolute insult to Hindu civilization, Hindu religious figures, idols, ideals, etc.", the plea says. 

The plea says that the wrong depiction of Hindu religious characters has invited criticism and resentment from all over the country including from those actors who have played the role of religious characters in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana. "The hair style, beard, moustache and dressing manner including appearances are well defined as per the image created in those epics. Any variation of these images by the film producers and directors and actors would certainly hurt the sentiments of worshipers, devotees and religious believers", says the petition. 

The petition filed through Advocate Pratibha Sinha also quotes Narottam Mishra, the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh telling media that the depiction in the movie hurts religious sentiments. 

Cause Title: Vishnu Gupta v. Union of India & Ors.