Adipurush: A bat in Ravana's belfry

 I had always wondered how Ravana's famous Pushpaka Vimana flying chariot which carried off Sita all the way to Lanka, managed to stay airborne as it lacked basic aerodynamic requirements. The makers of the film Adipurush may have had such thoughts and commissioned a giant repulsive-looking bat for the job.

Actor Prabhas as Ravan, who sports a smart beard and moustache that would not be out of place even in the third decade of the 21st century, sits on the neck of the bat complete with the reins for controlling a horse. The bat doesn't like it one bit and keeps on showing a set of wicked teeth resembling the awesome chrome grill of an American car of the 1950s. But then, Ravana proves to be an adept pilot and manages to keep control of the aircraft.

By the way, Ravan is referred to only as Lankesh in this film. Well, he manages to carry away poor Sita, all trussed up, perhaps to prevent any attack by her while he is involved in piloting that bat plane. But then Jatayu is soon on their tail and it takes some nifty manoeuvring on Lankesh's part to perform what would, several millenniums later, in the fourth decade of the 20th century during World War I to be precise, came to be known as the Immelmann turn (http://surl.li/kilzu) and cut off poor Jatayu's wings,

On arrival in Lanka, the bat sweeps gracefully down to what seems to be a helipad complete with yellow lines and markings to land. Lankesh jumps down from his perch and his prisoner, Sita is escorted away by two female aides to Ashoka Vana, a garden full of trees with luminescent leaves and flowers to sit pining away for Raghav, as Ram is referred to in this movie.

Meanwhile, the bat is secured with strong iron chains and the beast protests, baring its fangs and trying to break its shackles. During the course of the film, we meet this character, hanging upside down inside a tower and being fed what looked like massive leg pieces, presumably of elephants, by Lankesh. It continues to be in a foul mood, spitting out bone pieces and all. No table manners at all. 

The bat that brought Lankesh to the battlefield, gets killed by Bajrang during the battle, Raghav then commissions a two-seater swan-shaped aircraft to take Sita home. But it would have been more fun if the giant bat was around and Ayodhya would have got an airport big enough to accommodate the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747 even during Ram Rajya. 

Lakshman Rekha is an iron grill

Lakshmana called Shesh in the movie, draws no Lakshman Rekha but effectively keeps out the various demons by conjuring up what seems like an iron grill blazing with fire. It even has the Swastika much like on the iron grills on some of our temples. Even Lankesh was unable to break it till Sita was persuaded to come out to give him Bhiksha.

Hanuman, known as Bajrang, looks formidable as does Sugriva. Most of the monkeys are a tad small in size. The monkey's army at times raises slogans as if in a political rally. Lankesh has got various mechanical devices, including flame throwers and metal ratchets that slide down the fort walls to prevent the monkeys from climbing up.

But then, the monkeys are up to the job and with some help from Raghav, manages to reach the top and battle the Rakshasas. Thus Ravana, the great emperor, who had asked for and got the boon from Brahma that he would not be defeated by the Devas, finally faces the ignominy of having been defeated by an army of monkeys, for the first time in history or mythology. What a shame 

Surpanakha needs a nose job

Surpanakha, Lankesh's sister, chances upon the handsome dude Raghav while wandering about the forest and proposes marriage. Our man, always prim and proper, points out that he already has a wife. So Madam S decides to eliminate competition by attacking Janaki. Lakshmana then lops off her nose and she runs crying to Big Brother. Well, nothing could be done about her nose as renowned surgeons like Sushruta were yet to be born. Anyway, she manages to put the idea of abducting Sita into his head with disastrous consequences.

Ravana learns to keep his heads in order

Ah, Ravana is fixed in the popular imagination with ten heads arranged horizontally. This would have been terribly inconvenient for him while passing through narrow doorways. Adipurush solves the issue by arranging the heads like a double-decker. For most parts of the movie, the extra heads come out only when he is angry.

Should you see the movie?

Well, it depends. I found it to be like an animated adventure movie along the lines of Batman or Justice League America. The filmmaker stated that he had made it for his child and brought in all such elements that would appeal to the present-day kids. If it had not been offered as a retelling of the Ramayana or based on Valmiki Ramayana, there would have been no controversy.

As for the actors, they do not have much to do. Even Kriti Sanon as Sita is a far cry from her delightful role in Mimi.