Directed by Om Raut, the mythological drama Adipurush was released in the theatres on Friday, June 16. The film, which stars Prabhas as Raghava (Rama), Kriti Sanon as Janaki (Sita), and Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh (Ravana), has collected a gross worldwide collection of over Rs 200 crore within two days of its release.
After the film is being criticised for its writing and visual effects, the makers issued a statement on Sunday, June 18, that they are going to amend the dialogues. In the film during the Lanka Dehan sequence, Indrajeet asks Hanuman ‘jali kya (is it burning)?’. To this, Hanuman responds rather cheekily, “Kapda tere baap ka, tel tere baap ka, Jalegi bhi tere baap ki (the cloth and oil belong to your father, his will burn). This line in particular has caused a much uproar, and now amid all this backlash, an old deleted tweet of Om Raut asking 'was God Hanuman deaf' has gone viral.
In 2015, the filmmaker tweeted, "Was God Hanuman Deaf? People around my building think so. Playing loud music like “really loud” on Hanuman Jayanti. Plus all irrelevant songs". This has now resurfaced on the micro-blogging platform with netizens bashing Om Raut and calling him 'dogla' (double-faced).
One Twitter user shared the video of Om Raut announcing to reserve one seat for Lord Hanuman in every screening of Adipurush before its release along with the old tweet and wrote, "Bhai Kya Dogala Admi Hai Yeh (He is such a double-faced person), while another user even threatened to file an FIR against the director and wrote, "Only in India you can call our God 'Behra' (Deaf) and get away with it. Going to file an FIR against @omraut, who will come with me?".
Before the recently released Prabhas-starrer, Om Raut made his directorial debut with the 2015 Marathi-language biographical film Lokmanya: Ek Yugpurush based on the life of freedom fighter and nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He entered Bollywood with the 2020 historical action film Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior starring Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles.
READ | Hanuman actor Vindu Dara Singh is sceptical to watch Prabhas' Adipurush, says he doesn't want to 'get upset' | Exclusive
