| The Adipurush fiasco: If it ain’t broke, why…? I wonder how history will look upon the makers of Adipurush. Perhaps with the damning glare you might associate with the expression ‘You had one job’. Simply because the story that it tells has such everlasting value that even a kid can narrate it their way and still get it right. That Bryan Cranston, the guy who played a drug lord on possibly one of the most-watched English-language TV shows, could voice the 'noblest among men', Lord Ram, and nail it. If one still chooses to go with “tel tera toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki”, it’s a death wish really. When it comes to cinema, interpretations and experiments must be welcomed and lauded. But before that, the one interpreting it must question themselves if it was really warranted. If what they are doing has a clear purpose, an audience and something new to offer, also because of the amount of money riding on it. And in the case of this one, deviyon and sajjanon, the figure is in excess of ₹500 crore.  All along, the makers have defended the film saying their vision was to make the language accessible to the younger audience. In a recent interview on a news channel, writer Manoj Muntashir even proffered that it could also be said to have been inspired by the dadi-nani vein of storytelling, where the latter would freely employ colloquialisms and phrases from the local parlance. However, to give a major character a random Punjabi twang, randomly taporify (thanks to Adipurush, this is a word now) exchanges between characters and throw in anachronistic puns that make you laugh awkwardly — is an error that would put even crossing the Lakshman Rekha in the shade. Just like Gandhiji did at the beginning of every NCERT textbook of the 2000s — for whenever you are in doubt about retelling grand stories — I will give you a talisman. Think of the OG screen adaptation of the epic, Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. Remember how it was telecast again during the dreary first days of the pandemic three years ago (on popular demand, no less), leading to a flurry of good-spirited memes and excerpted clips on social media? An enormous part of the awe and cult it found anew among the much-maligned younger audience was owing to the grand lyricality and profundity of its dialogue. The makers are now revamping bits that have upset the audience. As the film makes a desperate dash towards recovering its costs, this might be a step too little, too late. What of the horrid costuming and VFX that have come in for intense scorn from all corners? In a possible attempt to match the visually spectacular sequences of superhero films from the West, the sublime simplicity of the redemption and heroic quest of an exiled prince and his family slipped out of the bulked-up hands of Adipurush’s makers. To avoid giving cinema lovers heartache, remember that masala dosa and ice cream do not a delicious combination make. East is East and West is West, so do not mix — and if something ain’t broke yet, why would you fix? Tarot | 
