The makers of Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha have pushed back against online trolling over a viral promotional poster that shows a member of the vanar sena wearing what appears to be a pair of modern spectacles.
The film, directed by Abhishek Singh and starring Anjali Arora as Sita and Dev Sharma as Ram, opened in theatres recently with little fanfare. But within days of release, one of its character posters began circulating widely on social media — not for its design, but for an odd detail: a soldier standing behind Sugriva, depicted in human form and wearing modern eyeglasses, in a story set in the Treta Yuga.
The image triggered a wave of memes and mockery. "Treta yug me bhi chashma lagate the?" (Did people wear spectacles even in the Treta Yuga?), one user wrote, while others simply poked fun at the anachronism.
Makers: it is artwork, not a film frame
Addressing the controversy on September 27 in remarks to India Today, Abhishek Singh and the production team said the image being shared is promotional artwork — not a frame from the movie — and challenged critics to prove otherwise.
"If this visual really appears in the film, please share a genuine theatre-captured screenshot or give the exact scene and timestamp where a Vanar Sena member is shown wearing glasses. We will respond publicly," the makers said. "But repeatedly presenting a promotional image as a film scene is misleading."
Singh added: "Criticism is part of filmmaking and none of us expect everyone to have the same opinion. But criticism should be directed at the film people have actually watched. When promotional images, edited visuals or isolated assets begin circulating as evidence of alleged scenes in the film, we as filmmakers have every right to put the actual visuals in front of the audience."
The team said it plans to release footage from the film to demonstrate the difference between the movie and the image circulating online.
The glasses row is not the film's first brush with online scrutiny. Anjali Arora's casting as Sita had already divided social media when it was announced, given her background as a reality-show personality rather than a conventional film actor. The film also stars Sheel Verma as Lakshman, Nirbhay Wadhwa as Hanuman and Rajniesh Duggal as Ravan.
Sources: Hindustan Times
The film, directed by Abhishek Singh and starring Anjali Arora as Sita and Dev Sharma as Ram, opened in theatres recently with little fanfare. But within days of release, one of its character posters began circulating widely on social media — not for its design, but for an odd detail: a soldier standing behind Sugriva, depicted in human form and wearing modern eyeglasses, in a story set in the Treta Yuga.
The image triggered a wave of memes and mockery. "Treta yug me bhi chashma lagate the?" (Did people wear spectacles even in the Treta Yuga?), one user wrote, while others simply poked fun at the anachronism.
Makers: it is artwork, not a film frame
Addressing the controversy on September 27 in remarks to India Today, Abhishek Singh and the production team said the image being shared is promotional artwork — not a frame from the movie — and challenged critics to prove otherwise.
"If this visual really appears in the film, please share a genuine theatre-captured screenshot or give the exact scene and timestamp where a Vanar Sena member is shown wearing glasses. We will respond publicly," the makers said. "But repeatedly presenting a promotional image as a film scene is misleading."
Singh added: "Criticism is part of filmmaking and none of us expect everyone to have the same opinion. But criticism should be directed at the film people have actually watched. When promotional images, edited visuals or isolated assets begin circulating as evidence of alleged scenes in the film, we as filmmakers have every right to put the actual visuals in front of the audience."
The team said it plans to release footage from the film to demonstrate the difference between the movie and the image circulating online.
The glasses row is not the film's first brush with online scrutiny. Anjali Arora's casting as Sita had already divided social media when it was announced, given her background as a reality-show personality rather than a conventional film actor. The film also stars Sheel Verma as Lakshman, Nirbhay Wadhwa as Hanuman and Rajniesh Duggal as Ravan.
Sources: Hindustan Times
