T-Series has unveiled the first teaser for the long-awaited mythological film Adipurush, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. Baahubali star Prabhas plays Lord Rama in the film, directed by Om Raut. The teaser was released at a grand event in the city of Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Not a single visual from Adipurush (which can roughly be translated to "first man" in Sanskrit) had been shown prior to this teaser, excluding a poster earlier this week. This is essentially the first time that audiences are getting a glimpse of what Raut has been cooking up for years, and it’s safe to say that "half-finished cartoon" wasn’t what anybody would’ve expected. Raut relied heavily on green-screens in his debut feature, the blockbuster historical epic Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, and he appears to have doubled down on that aesthetic in Adipurush.
The Ramayana has been adapted several times before for stage, in literature, and on film. It is a tale about good versus evil, a tale that practically everybody in India is familiar with, regardless of faith. It is also among the most important texts in the Hindu religion, and tells the story of Lord Rama, who must challenge the demon king of Lanka, Ravana, and save his wife Sita from his clutches. Lord Rama is joined by his brother Lakshmana and their companion Hanuman and his army of monkeys in his mission. Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya after successfully vanquishing evil and rescuing Sita is celebrated by Hindus across the world on the Dussehra and Diwali festivals.
Saif Ali Khan plays Ravana, Kriti Sanon plays Sita, and Sunny Singh stars as Lakshmana. Khan previously worked with Raut on Tanhaji. Western audiences would recognize him as the star of India’s first Netflix original series, the International Emmy nominated crime drama Sacred Games. Prabhas, of course, is the star of RRR director SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster Baahubali films — Baahubali: The Beginning, and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
Those films also drew from Indian mythological epics, as does Rajamouli’s recent Telugu language blockbuster, RRR. In fact, some of the imagery in the final showdown of RRR draws directly from the Ramayana. But while those films are a great example of how ambitious Indian movies can be despite relatively smaller budgets — RRR reportedly cost around $70 million to produce; tiny, compared to the biggest Hollywood films — Adipurush feels rather outdated (although it reportedly cost around $60 million). The film can also be included in a new wave of mainstream Indian tentpoles that reflect the rise in right-wing political sentiment in the country, after RRR and the more recent Brahmāstra – Part One: Shiva. This is context that Western audiences might not necessarily be familiar with, but it’s worth noting, nonetheless.
Adipurush will also attempt to capitalize on the increasing popularity of South Indian films; this is not a Bollywood movie, per se. "Bollywood" is a term generally used for Hindi language films, and while Adipurush mainly features Bollywood actors, Prabhas is a Telugu star. To cast as wide a net as possible, Adipurush will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam on January 12, 2023. The film will also be released in 3D and IMAX. You can watch the teaser here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.