Revolutionary Monk

I understand disagreements over casting, actors, actresses and creative choices. Those conversations are natural. But what I cannot understand is the eagerness to ridicule an entire project before watching it, sometimes crossing the line into mocking our own scriptures. People questioned Jatayu’s presence, his association with Dasharath ji and kept asking, “Yeh kab hua tha?” Many making these jokes hadn’t even bothered to understand Valmiki Ramayana. A written epic and a visual adaptation are two different storytelling mediums. Context sometimes has to be established visually. Our Itihas deserves more than the half-hearted adaptations we have seen in the past, with compromised budgets, limited ambition and visuals that fail to communicate the grandeur of our glorious past. We need filmmakers willing to dream big, invest big and take these stories to the world. With an Oscar-winning VFX powerhouse like DNEG involved, this is a significant cinematic moment. I understand that not every filmmaker will be familiar to us, and not every creative decision will immediately appeal to everyone. Sometimes, we have to allow people the space to surprise us. From what I have seen and heard so far, the attempt has been to present the story with dignity and respect for our sentiments. And that matters. A film like this doesn’t come along every day. It is a rare opportunity to see our civilisation’s greatest story envisioned on a global cinematic canvas. Watch it in cinemas. Take your children along. This is an experience meant for the big screen, not just snippets watched on a phone. Let them see, understand and become curious about the stories that shaped our civilisation. And while you are at it, pick up Valmiki Ramayana. Read it yourself, encourage your children to read it too. A cinematic experience can spark curiosity, but understanding our scriptures is a journey we must undertake ourselves. We can have our criticisms, but let us not become so cynical that we forget to celebrate when someone actually attempts something this ambitious with our own stories. I would rather see a hundred attempts to take our Itihas to the world than see it remain confined to conversations within our own homes. Some stories deserve to be told. Some deserve to be retold. And some deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible. #Ramayana is one of them.