In an unprecedented move, the team of Adipurush, as part of its promotional strategy, has announced that theatres screening the movie will leave a seat vacant in honour of lord Hanuman. “It is our belief that Hanuman goes wherever Ramayanam plays. To honour this belief, a seat will be reserved for Hanuman during the screening of Adipurush in which Prabhas plays the role of Rama,” the team said on Monday June 5.
However, confusion prevailed after the production house deleted the announcement from their Twitter account. TNM reached out to the team to confirm that theatres will indeed be reserving a seat, symbolically for Hanuman to occupy. “The announcement had to be deleted because director Om Raut will be making the official announcement. Due to a miscommunication, the announcement was made without consulting him,” said a crew member of Adipurush.
Meanwhile, the promotional gimmick by the Adipurush team has led to several memes on social media.
Hanuman kita poi corner seat tharingala nu kekran di un pulla https://t.co/YzSrW90nqd pic.twitter.com/5cGidjgDvf
— Sai (@saiprasathkj) June 5, 2023
Anjaneyar in the theatre when Lanka burns https://t.co/EQ7MvgTtk4 pic.twitter.com/kjwdOskKbb
— Underground Aadhikesavan (@SayadhaBaba) June 6, 2023
Mountain weight Ah iruncha?
— Pranav (@shellofstories) June 5, 2023
Oh .. Omg! https://t.co/PU1e8kZcWv pic.twitter.com/WTnL9OZy9k
Hanuman watching the movie for the nth time after traveling in chennai veyil: https://t.co/X0OG1SmuwQ pic.twitter.com/aXZnFZKcrH
— Alka | நீலன் (@bheemboii) June 5, 2023
me on 16th june https://t.co/TNb780dm5b pic.twitter.com/Rr0rc0eRPn
— gooomthabula (@ennadala) June 5, 2023
Some even asked if the theatres will serve only vegetarian food in the stalls because of the religious sentiment, and if they should come without wearing footwear. The trolling was, however, harshly criticised by some using communal slurs.
Just one doubt. Will the multiplex operators serve non-veg snacks when playing #Adipurush ??? Because that may hurt religious sentiments of Hindu audience.. they may want to stick to Veg only.. https://t.co/MxBwKOgwt0
— வெங்கட் (@iVenpu) June 6, 2023
Theatre scenario https://t.co/J1yzwcL6j8 pic.twitter.com/xxhuY0XyfB
— KKR (@KarthikRoyall) June 6, 2023
Adipurush is based on the Hindu epic Ramayana. The film stars actors Prabhas, Kriti Sannon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh, and others. Om Raut of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior fame is directing the movie. Adipurush, is being bankrolled by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar of T-series, Raut, Prasad Sutar, and Rajesh Nair of Retrophiles.
It will be released on June 16.