Manoj Muntashir Accepts His Mistakes For Adipurush's Dialogues, Says 'I Failed To Uphold My Promise'

Six months after Adipurush debacle, the film’s writer Manoj Muntashir had finally admitted that the film was ‘wrong’. Now in a new interview, the popular lyricist addressed the controversy and owned up to his responsibility of letting down everyone. Muntashir also expressed that people’s complaints were valid.

Speaking at a session with Sahitya Aaj Tak 2023, Manoj Muntashir shared, “When I crafted ‘Galliyan,’ the dialogues and songs for Baahubali, ‘Teri Mitti’ and ‘Mere Ghar Ram Aaye Hain’, I never questioned why people resonated with and cherished my compositions. So, how could I now enquire why they might have complaints against me? I respect all your complaints and I can confidently affirm that each one of your complaints is valid and true, devoid of any fault.”

He also admitted that at the time, he couldn’t recognise his mistake, “Mistakes become apparent only during retrospection. If you’re aware that what you’re doing is wrong as you’re doing it, why would anyone proceed? However, I am confident that the audience here understands that a mistake is just one page, and the relationship is the entire book. They recognise that if ink spills on a page, it may stain, so the solution is to tear that page and discard it, not to discard the entire book,” the writer and lyricist stated.

He added, “It was a crazy wind, I had to be careful and control myself. I was the final lamp that needed to be lit. I had pledged to deliver a good, great film, ensuring no disappointment. However, in the end, I failed to uphold that promise and disappointed them. So, how can it not be my fault? If we delve into the extent of fault, you understand the limitations of a dialogue and songwriter in terms of involvement in a film’s production, progression, script, and scene alterations. Everyone has their limits. Yet, it was a commitment I made (to deliver a remarkable film). Now, I am leaving with another promise that I will keep writing praises for Lord Ram.”

Manoj Muntashir also acknowledged the response that Adipurush’s songs had garnered. He said, “That is the honesty of the people. Where there were shortcomings, they criticised and highlighted the errors. Where there was merit, they acknowledged it. The dialogues you raised objections to were indeed worth objecting to. However, there were also some dialogues that, as a writer, I feel were swept away in the storm and did not reach you. They should have reached you.”

When it was released, Adipurush was faced backlash for its dialogues. “Kapda tere baap ka. Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki,” dialogue particularly caught everyone’s attention and left all disappointed. Talking about the same, Manoj said, “We were looking at it through the lens of Ramleela and maybe this was a mistake.” “I cannot claim that the film was made properly. I did not make the film, the sooner people understand this the better,” he admitted.

Adipurush was released on June 16. The film is based on the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana. However, following its release, the film faced immense backlash from the audience for allegedly distorting the epic. People expressed disappointment with the film’s dialogues and portrayal of Ravana and Lord Hanuman. Even though the makers changed the infamous ‘kapda tere baap ka’ dialogue, it made no impact. A plea in the Supreme Court was also filed seeking revocation of CBFC certification of the Om Raut directorial. However, it was rejected by the top court.