Manoj Muntashir Shukla on Adipurush: I made a big mistake

Dialogue writer and lyricist Manoj Muntashir Shukla, recently, in an interview spoke about how writing for Adipurush was a “mistake” and defending himself publicly after the film was being criticised was the worst thing he could have done.

Released in June this year, the film received flak over its crude dialogues. It also was criticised for its shoddy VFX and was a box office disaster.

In a conversation with AajTak, Manoj revealed that he moved abroad for some time after his family became concerned for his safety because of the death threats he was receiving. “The world may consider you good and tomorrow it may be considered bad but for your family you are a hero.”

The writer added that he made a “mistake” but never wanted to hurt sentiments of people. “There is no doubt about it. I am not such an insecure person that I would defend my writing skills by saying that I have written well. It's a 100 percent mistake. Yes, I made a big mistake. But, there was no bad intention behind that mistake. I had absolutely no intention of hurting the religion and causing trouble to Sanatan or to defame Lord Ram or to say something about Hanuman ji which is not there."

He also said that a bigger mistake was to offer clarifications while he was being criticised. "I feel that when people were furious, I should not have clarified at that time. This was my biggest mistake. I should not have spoken at that time. If people are angry with my clarification, then their anger is justified. Because that was not the time to clarify and today I understand that mistake.”

After Adipurush’s dialogues were labelled “blasphemous” and Manoj was subject to heavy trolling online, he had sought police protection. In a long, emotional tweet, addressing his trollers, he ultimately stated that he and the makers have decided to alter the contentious dialogues. “The lesson of Rama’s story is to respect every sentiment,” he stated. “…Then why were you so quick to label me as against sanatan?”