'Adipurush' director Om Raut under fire for 'kissing' Kriti Sanon
Tanhaji and Adipurush director Om Raut has landed in a soup after planting a peck on Kriti Sanon's cheek. The team of Adipurush—Prabhas, Raut, and Sanon—were in Tirupati earlier this week to release Adipurush's final trailer, post which, Raut and Sanon paid their respects at the Lord Venkateswara temple. Raut bid Sanon goodbye with a friendly kiss, but that has now created some uproar.
What led to the chaos?
In a video that's doing rounds on social media, Sanon can be seen heading toward her car post-darshan. Before leaving, she comes back to hug Raut and a few others, and in the process, Raut can be seen "kissing" her. Since this incident took place on the temple premises, it hasn't gone down well with Ramesh Naidu Nagothu, BJP State Secretary in Andhra Pradesh.
Here's what Nagothu wrote on Twitter, deleted later
In a since-deleted tweet, Nagothu wrote, "Is it really necessary to bring your antics to a sacred place? Engage in public displays of affection, like kissing and hugging in front of the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala is deemed disrespectful and unacceptable." A few Twitter users also seemed a little miffed, with some saying that "this was done purposely to generate more controversy."
Raut commented on the effects of the 'darshan'
Though neither the Bareilly Ki Barfi actor nor the Adipurush helmer has reacted to the controversy, Raut shared his experience of visiting the holy temple. He said, "After coming to the temple, I feel extremely amazing. It felt nice. We had a great darshan today morning. Yesterday, we put out the trailer. It's a mesmerizing feeling and I cannot put it into words."
Is this the film's first controversy? Not quite
This is not the first time Adipurush has made noise for the wrong reasons. When its teaser came out last year, it was slammed for the "misrepresentation of mythological figures," showing the characters in "leather costumes," and changing the look of the vanaras (half-humans, half-monkeys). In fact, the backlash was so severe that the film was pushed from a January to a June release.
Here's everything about the upcoming mythological epic
Adipurush will be premiered at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on June 13, followed by its full-fledged release on June 16. Apart from Prabhas as Ram, Sanon as Sita, and Saif Ali Khan as Ravana, it stars Sunny Singh as Laxman and Devdutta Nage as Hanuman. It will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
