Muntashir Defends Adipurush Songs Amid Ramayana Comparisons

Lyricist Manoj Muntashir defended the songs he wrote for Adipurush on October 28, responding to comparisons with Mangal Rang, a song from the forthcoming Ramayana film. He said the songs should not be criticized and cited their reported popularity, while acknowledging that Adipurush had been a bad film and its dialogue worse. Muntashir posted his response on X after a report compared the debate over Mangal Rang with the controversy surrounding Adipurush. The song, composed by A.R. Rahman, has drawn discussion over its qawwali-style sound and whether that approach suits a film based on the Hindu epic, according to the reports. In his post, Muntashir said that children across the country sing Adipurush’s songs and claimed they could be heard throughout Ayodhya. Those statements reflect his account; the reports did not provide independent evidence measuring how widely the songs are played or sung. He also said there was no lack of devotion, dedication or poetry in the songs, and objected to their being challenged in the comparison. Muntashir said he had apologized to Ram devotees for his mistakes and believed they had forgiven him. He contrasted that apology with his defense of...