What would the late much-loved Dara Singh, who played Lord Hanuman in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, have said about Adipurush?
"You can't mess around with the Ramayan," Dara Singh's son Vindoo Dara Singh, who took over Hanuman's mantle after his father's death, tells Subhash K Jha.
"It is a very sensitive subject and very close to our hearts. Ever since the film released, I have been getting calls and messages about why I am not Hanuman in Adipurush. I can't answer that. Maybe they thought I was too old to play Hanuman. But Hanuman is ageless."
Besides, says Vindoo, he wouldn't have done Adipurush even if it was offered to him.
"I am very particular about doing anything based on the Ramayan. I don't want to be abused later on for what I do. So even if I had been offered Adipurush, I don't think I'd have done it. On social media, they are saying that the clothes are all wrong, too sexy or something."
"You have to be very careful while doing the Ramayan. People are very attached to it. It is dangerous to play around with the Ramayan."
Vindoo thinks his father Dara Singh has become the onscreen face of Hanuman: "I can say that my father is the screen avatar of Hanuman. When you think of Hanuman, his face comes in front of you. After him, I've been playing Hanuman. In fact, a few days ago I played Hanuman again at Siri Fort. I got thunderous applause again."
"I have not had the opportunity to see Adipurush. But the point is, when you do the Ramayan, everyone should be loving and appreciating it, not abusing it."
