Actress-Politician Malavika Avinash slams Om Raut for ‘misrepresentation’ of Ramayan in ‘Adipurush’, says Saif’s character looks like a ‘Turkish tyrant’ – Times of India

Actor and politician Malavika Avinash slammed the makers of ‘Adipurush’ for ‘misrepresentation’ of Ramayan. She specifically hit out at the way Saif Ali Khan’s character of Ravan has been depicted. She said to ANI, “I am saddened by the fact that the director let alone researching the Valmiki’s Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana or Tulsidasa’s Ramayana, or the umpteen numbers of interpretations of Ramayana that are available across board as far as Thailand where they do beautiful performances of the Ramayana. The least he could have done is gone back and researched our own films; there are so many Kannada films, Telugu films, Tamil films, which show how Raavana looked. He could have just looked up NT Rama Rao or Dr Rajkumar in ‘Bhookailasa’ or any of these great actors, SV Ranga Rao in ‘Sampoorna Ramayana’, to understand how Raavana looked. The Raavana in the photograph that I see floating around is a guy who looks nothing Indian, who has blue eye makeup and is wearing leather jackets. This is our history they are representing; they cannot do it in the guise of creative liberty. Ramayana is who we were, it represents this nation, its civilisation and its people. So no one can take it for granted, let alone a film director. I am angry and I am saddened by this misrepresentation”.

Previously, in a Tweet, Malavika Avinash had stated that Saif’s character of Ravan in ‘Adipurush’ may be a ‘Turkish tyrant but is not Ravana’.