Adipurush row: Hindu saints demand formation of 'Sanatan Censor Board', allege Bollywood ridiculing Hinduism

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 8 : Amid the row over Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan and Kriti Sanon starrer movie Adipurush, Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti called for the dissolution of the censor board and the constitution of 'Sanatan Hindu Censor Board', alleging that Bollywood ridicules the Santan Dharma.

Speaking to ANI, Karshni Nagendra Maharaj, in-charge Kashi Vidvat Parishad, said, "This is a good decision by Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti to demand for the constitution of a Hindu Sanatan Sanskriti Censor Board. I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to implement such a policy. Bollywood insults Hindu gods and goddesses and Sanatan Dharma. In Adipurush movie, Lord Hanuman and Ravana have been portrayed as Muslims. What kind of portrayal of Sanatan Dharma is this?"
Nagendra Maharaj said there is a big conspiracy by the Muslim countries to defame Hindu Sanatan Dharma using Bollywood.
"These people always regress Sanatan Dharma. They should be banned. The Central government should take a decision in this regard otherwise the Sant samaj and all Dharmacharyas will call for a big movement. The Muslim countries provide the funding with the motive to ruin the Hindu culture. Several Hindu nations of ancient times were made Muslim countries. This is a big conspiracy to destroy the Hindu Rastra Sanatan culture. And Bollywood is part of this conspiracy and doing these kinds of works," he said.
Nagendra Maharaj further said the censor board that passes such movies should be prohibited. There should be an immediate constitution of the Sanatan Sanskriti Censor Board, he demanded.

Another saint of Kashi Vidvat, Dharmacharya Gopesh Baba said, "This is a great initiative. This should be done. Bollywood since its inception has always been insulting Sanatan Dharma and Hindu gods and goddesses. They try to portray Sanatan in a bad way. And, this also impacts society. These kinds of movies should be boycotted."
Speaking to ANI, the Gujrat chapter president of Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti Nautam Prakash Swami said that a meeting was held at GNDC Convention Hall, Delhi where Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, Akada Parishad and saints of akhadas across the country proposed the constitution of Santan Hindu Censor Board.

He said "India was a Hindu nation and it will always remain so. Indian culture is based on Hindu culture. Muslims attacked the nation 700 years ago but Hinduism was not affected. It is the land of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Now portraying them in the wrong manner like what has been done in Adipurush. The Film Censor Board defames the saints and Sanatan dharma. So there should be a Sanatan Hindi censor board for the entire country. It is a country of Hindus and should be run by Hinduism."
Nautam Prakash Swami further demanded the abolishment of the Waqf board.
"The land controlled by the Waqf Board should now be acquired by the Government of India and the state governments," he added.
Meanwhile, a plea seeking a stay on the release of Adipurush has been moved to a Delhi Court.
The plea alleged that Lord Rama and Hanuman in the movie have been portrayed in an unwarranted and inaccurate manner depicting them wearing leather straps. It also said that Ravana has been shown in a wrong appearance.
The plea has been moved by advocate Raj Gaurav against Bhushan Kumar and Om Raut, the producer and director of the film. The plea has been listed for Monday for hearing before Senior Civil Judge Abhishek Kumar of Tees Hazari Court.
It has been alleged that in the trailer of the movie character of Lord Rama, Hanuman and Ravana has been shown in a manner that hurt the religious sentiments of the applicant and many others.

It is also said that Ravana belongs to Sri Lanka and his traits are identifiable with one of Sri Lanka whereas the defendant in the trailer of the movie has tried to portray Ravana to be belonging to middle East Asia identifying him with one as Mughal antecedent i.e. one who invaded India. The defendant has tried to portray Ravana who was a Brahmin as a Muslim.
The petitioner has sought a permanent injunction against the trailer/promo of the movie. He also sought a direction to remove the trailer from all social media including YouTube and Facebook.

Director Om Raut made this film with the dream of bringing the story of Ramayana to the silver screen but ever since the first teaser of Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan and Kriti Sanon-starrer 'Adipurush' dropped, there has been a unanimously negative response from various quarters.
People have largely been disappointed due to the film's poor VFX and the unrealistic look of various characters including Saif's Raavan. Seeing Saif donning short spiked hair, long beard and kajal eyes, several netizens have compared the actor's look in the film with that of Alauddin Khilji rather than Raavana.
'Adipurush' has been produced by T Series and Retrophiles. It is slated to hit the theatres on January 12, 2023, in IMAX and 3D. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Om, Prasad Sutar, and Rajesh Nair, the film will be released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada.