Nitish Bharadwaj, who played Krishna in the classic Mahabharat series, has taken back his earlier praise for Ramayana: Rise of a Legend.
He had previously predicted an Oscar win for the film and later criticized how it portrayed Ravana (played by Yash), sharing his thoughts openly on Instagram.
Bharadwaj: film's Ravana portrayal undermines 'Ramayana'
Bharadwaj felt that showing Ravana as a "liberal and just" character goes against what Ramayana stands for.
In his words, "THE PURPOSE OF RAM AVATAR. Mahavishnu took the Ram Avatar to uphold Dharma, parampara and establish Maryada (rule of decorum). By presenting Ravan as an exceptionally liberal, socially just and fair figure, the film, in my view, alters the moral framework of the Ramayan and undermines the very purpose of the avatar (sic)."
He also pointed out that while the film looks great and has star power like Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi, technical brilliance can't make up for losing touch with cultural authenticity.
The movie released on November 5, with a sequel already planned for Diwali 2028 featuring Sunny Deol as Hanuman.