Adipurush Dialogue Row: T-series Apologizes To Kathmandu Mayor, Wants Ban To Be Reversed

New Delhi: The producer of Prabhas, Kriti Sanon starrer ‘Adipurush’, has apologized to Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah over a dialogue where Sita is described as the ‘daughter of India’. The apology comes after all the Hindi films were banned in Nepal owing to the dialogue in the film.

In a letter to Mayor Shah, T-Series said that the mistake has been corrected and assured that the error was not intentional. The letter read, “At the outset we would like to apologize if we have hurt the sentiments of the people of Nepal in any way. It was never intentional or deliberate to cause any disharmony for anyone. The dialogue spoken by Mr Prabhas portraying the character of Shri Raghav, “aaj mere liye Mat Ladna, us din ke liye ladna jab Bharat ki kisi beti par haath daine se pehle durachari tumhara paurush yaad karke thraa uthega” has no reference to the birth place of Sita Mata but refers to, in general, the dignity of all women particularly the women of “Bharat” Having said that, as Indians the respect of women all over the world is of utmost importance to us. We request you to view the film in its artistic form and support the intention of reaching out to a larger audience to create interest in our history.”

Mayer Balen apologizes to ‘Adipurush’ producer @ShahBalen Brought the letter!🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/Ad45SX3P2m

– flower !! (@SGNepal) June 18, 2023

Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah on Sunday said no Hindi film will be allowed to run in Kathmandu Metropolitan City until the dialogue “Janaki is a daughter of India” in “Adipurush” is removed not just in Nepal but also in India. Sita, also referred to as Janaki, is believed by many to have been born in Janakpur in southeast Nepal.

According to Kathmandu mayor, screening ‘Adipurush’ without getting one of its dialogues removed will cause “irreparable damage”.

“Screening of all the Hindi films will be barred within Kathmandu Metropolitan City from Monday, June 19, as the objectionable words in the dialogue of the film ‘Adipurush’ have not yet been removed,” he said in a Facebook post on Sunday.

“We have already issued notice three days ago to remove the objectionable portion of the dialogue that ‘Sita is India’s daughter’ from the movie within three days,” he added.

Since its release, the film has been embroiled in controversy majorly because of its dialogues, specifically regarding the Lanka Dahan scene where Lord Hanuman is heard mouthing the lines “Kapda tere baap ka. Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi Bhi tere baap ki” to Meghnad.

After the backlash, the makers of the film announced that they would be rewriting the lines as a mark of respect to the audience.