Adipurush, the 2023 action Hindi film based on the Hindu epic Ramayana released in theatres on June 16, 2023, and despite all the buzz around it, the film has majorly received negative responses from the public. Movie premiers like this remind us of the plethora of movies on Indian mythology that actually worked their magic on the audience and are still alive in their memories despite the long passage of time since their respective releases.
As far as the Om Raut 2023 directorial starring Prabhas, Saif Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and others is concerned, it’s being met with a lot of backlash from netizens who’ve disparaged sundry film elements from the VFX to its dialogues. Before we get into the list of better mythological stories (either based on or inspired from), we’ve linked below some authentic Twitter reactions to back our claims made earlier.
Some Twitter Reactions Calling Out Adipurush
Without further ado, let’s dig into some movies based on Indian mythology. These one will actually leave you praising them and appreciating the work put in by their crew and cast members to deal out a worthy expression of it all, either in terms of the storyline, or at least magnificent visual effects that’ll leave you awestruck.
Movies On Indian Mythology That Will Make for a Time Well-Spent
Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1993)
Streaming Platform: Available for free (English dub) on YouTube.
The 1992 anime film was way ahead of its time, and achieved to portray the Hindu mythological legend with a charm unlike any other film ever captured after it. Its fusion animation techniques produced an amalgamation of three styles – the Japanese Manga, Disney’s animation from the US and Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings from India. Produced and directed by the Japanese filmmaker Yugo Sako, the film was a collaborative Japanese and Indian co-production that faced a major controversy back in the day.
However, the movie’s artistic relevance has been forged in history, after all, it even received a 4K remaster release in 2022, called the Anniversary Edition. Since Ramayana The Legend of Prince Rama is directly based on the Indian epic Ramayana, it follows the story of Rama, the Ayodhyan prince’s banishment from his kingdom. Accompanied by his wife, Sita and brother Laxman, he takes to the humbler abode of the forest, where Ravana, a demon king, abducts Sita in his absence. The following plot chronicles the battle between Rama and Ravana, thus, charting out as a parable tale digging deeper into the ‘Good Vs Evil’ discourse.
The Hindi dubbed version of the film is especially held in the Indian audience’s heart as its voice cast features veterans like Shatrughan Sinha as the narrator, Arun Govil as Lord Rama (also portrayed the same fantastic character in the iconic Ramayan TV series), late Dara Singh as Hanuman, Amrish Puri as Ravana and others.
Brahmastra Part One: Shiva
Streaming Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Ayan Mukherji’s 2022 directorial is a fantasy action film that is inspired by Indian mythology (Hindu). Although the title of the Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer has been a well-understood term that finds its footing in various mythological texts, the term again picked up on trends once the movie premiered last year. Brahmastra is an Astra (a potent weapon) created by Lord Brahma, which has the power to wipe out the entire planet in case things ever go south. Mythological heroes like Lakshman (Ramayana), Lord Krishna, Arjun (Mahabharata) and others had previously wielded this weapon and knew all about its working.
While all this knowledge seeps deeper into ancient texts, Mukherji’s film is merely a fictional work of art that plays around with the mentions of these lethal elements called the Astras. Moreover, Kapoor’s character Shiva wields pyrokinetic powers and basically embodies the fire astra, as the Hindu god Lord Shiva is known to have three eyes – each of which represent the sun, moon and fire. Ayan has also previously addressed the matter and come clean that “While Brahmastra is a work of fiction, my attempt has been to celebrate Indian spirituality, in my own way, through this movie”.
Hanuman (2005)
Released in the early 2000s, this animated film based on Ramayana was narrated by actor Mukesh Khanna as the titular character and directed by VG Samant and Milind Ukey. It was a raging piece of classic cinematic art for the kids at the time, with reruns of the film being broadcasted on Indian TV networks day in and out. Regardless of that, the epic’s rewatch quality was quite high on the entertainment scale. While imparting a closer look at the Hindu legend, its story was particularly told from Hanuman’s perspective instead of Lord Rama taking the centre stage in this one.
Supported by an even heroic OST which featured the greatest of the great ensemble gathering of Indian singers like Sonu Nigam, Kailash Kher, Shaan, Vijay Prakash, Palash Sen, Madhushree, Tapas Relia and Sneha Pant, it depicted Hanuman’s (the ardent devotee of Lord Rama and spiritual son of the wind-god Vayu Dev) coming of age storyline right from his birth, and how he ultimately chanced upon Rama and joined his league of warriors to defeat Ravana.
Presented as India’s first animated film based on Hanuman, one can perceive this title to be a Ramayana spin-off. Capturing the majestic ‘Vanara Sena’ leader’s supernatural and mighty strength, the film begins with him flying off towards the Sun, thinking it to be a fruit in the sky. While most of us only know him to be the mighty warrior leading the ranks of Rama’s army to Lanka, his childish antics and playful shenanigans that ultimately made him who he was were barely portrayed anywhere before this film.
Kantara (2022)
Streaming Platform: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video
Although most of the titles in this listicle feature the widely acknowledged sagas of Ramayana, Kantara is a 2022 Kannada language film written and directed by Rishab Shetty which focusses on lesser known Indian deities and folk legends. Set in the Kaadubettu village, the movie showcases the villagers praying to protector deities Guliga and Panjurli. Much like Brahmastra, this too, fleshes out as a fictitious account, however, its source inspirations are very much based on real traditions.
Both Guliga and Panjurli are local folk deities, collectively known as Daivas. The practice of worshipping these “spirit” gods dates back to the pre-Vedic period. Also known as guardian deities of a particular location, their history is interlinked with that of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Moreover, their lesser known identities can be ascribed to their names being propagated as part of an oral tradition. As the lore goes, Panjurli’s origin story dates back to a boar dying in Shiva and Parvati’s garden. Its younger offspring was taken in by the godly pair, but eventually grew up to be a destructive individual, compelling Lord Shiva to kill it.
However, due to Parvati’s love for the boar, Shiva ultimately had no choice but to banish it, pushing it to live among people and protect them. On the other hand, Guliga was birthed from a stone found among ash remains by Parvati. Shiva, later threw this stone into water, leading to the birth of the so-named deity.
Anurag Kashyap’s Return of Hanuman (2007)
Streaming Platform: YouTube, Disney+ Hotstar
Serving as the supposed sequel to the previously mentioned 2005 animated movie, Return of Hanuman marks a change in pace with Anurag Kashyap joining in as its director. The children’s adventure comedy film is more of a modern retake with its focus bent on addressing the mishaps related to global warming.
For this chapter, Lord Hanuman draws up a contract with the gods that allows him to be reborn as a human being in his attempts to help out a kid in need. The new-age fictional narrative fused with mythology made for an enthralling and loveable movie experience that people loved and lauded regardless of their age.
Bal Ganesh (2007)
Although the new age audience may need some time to warm up to the visuals of this old school computer-animated musical film about the childhood antics of the Hindu god Ganesha, it was a good effort that attracted plenty of children to its radar in the early 00s. Also featuring the famous origin story of how Shiva and Parvati’s son ultimately came to be the elephant-headed god, this animation is bathed in playful mythological legends of the venerated god and his mouse companion Mooshak, with whom he ventured out on many escapades.
RaOne (2010)
Ever since Adipurush came out in theatres, audiences haven’t held back in going back to the OG legendary VFX gem of India, that has often been called ahead of its time – Shah Rukh Khan starrer RaOne. With the film’s feet held in ground by its vivacious cutting edge modernity, the superhero flick featured Khan in double roles – as the eponymous hero emerging out of the titular game and Shekhar Subramaniam, the game designer who created it in the first place. As for the same-named character of the film, who takes after the ultimate Hindu mythology antagonist, the ten-headed demon king, Ravana, Arjun Rampal played opposite Khan.
The eventual commercial hit was centred around family values and grounded by the fight between Good Vs Evil, much like Ramayana’s original plot. While it initially didn’t hit it off with the audience, its VFX, action sequences and the opposing lead actors – Khan and Rampal – made for some of the best highlights of the film. Although the title referred to Random Access- Version One, in the context of these characters existing inside a game, its tech-driven twist allowed for Rampal’s villain to assume the role of various evil characters.
Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan
The Tamil language epic follows the basic premise of the Ramayana, and translates it into the modern contemporary narrative. Serious cop Dev Prakash Subramaniam embarks on a quest to find his wife Raagini, who’s been kidnapped by a former tribal leader, now a naxalite named Veeraiya. However, things get messy when Raagini develops Stockholm syndrome and starts looking upon Veeraiya emotionally on learning his purpose. While it’s not essentially regarded as one of Ratnam’s best works, the Tamil film is definitely considered a better version of the Hindi counterpart Raavan. The cast and their performances ultimately make the best of their roles and outshine the other technical aspects of the film-making process.
Which of these Indian mythology-themed movies tops your personal list? Let us know more suggestions in the comments section below.
Also read: Adipurush Review by Twitterati: Om Raut’s Vision of Ramayan Leaves People Infuriated, Memes Go Viral