Here’s what led filmmaker Om Raut to choose Prabhas for Adipurush

Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020), which starred superstar Ajay Devgn in the lead role, turned out to be a massive blockbuster earlier this year. The humongous success of the historical drama benefitted all associated with the project, including director Om Raut who has just announced his next directorial, Adipurush.

The filmmaker has roped in superstar Prabhas to play the lead role in the film which is a screen adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Co-produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series Films, the multilingual project features Prabhas in the role of Lord Ram.

Asked what led him to sign the Baahubali star for the lead role, Om Raut told a newswire, “I think Prabhas is just perfect. His entire persona, the calmness that he has. His eyes are so deep, his stance, the way he carries himself, his entire personality. I could see Adipurush in him and if it was not him, I would not have made the film.”

Spilling some more details on his ambitious project, he added, “It is the story of Prabhu Ram. It is one aspect of the epic saga. It is my screen adaptation of the epic. There are too many preparations underway. Fortunately, the research is already in place. From a historical point of view, the notes are already there. But when you do a screen adaptation, there’s a lot of research from authenticity, technology points of view. A lot of storyboards are happening, asset creation, designing the characters as we speak.”

The director said that Adipurush was an idea he had in his mind even before Tanhaji went on floors but had put it on hold for some time. “Back then, I had written a basic draft after a lot of research. I spoke to my team and they were all excited to explore this again. So, the first two months were spent rewriting it, updating the screenplay I had written before and we realised it worked very well. The events did not change but the treatment obviously was made different, something which reflects today’s time. That is when I narrated it to Prabhas and met him when the lockdown was over.”

Adipurush is slated to go before cameras in January 2021 with an aim to open in cinemas in 2022.