Nitesh Tiwari‘s ‘Ramayana: Part I’, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, has crossed the Rs 600 crore mark worldwide. While the film has drawn attention for its scale and performances, Sai Pallavi’s portrayal of Maa Sita has triggered a debate among viewers. Certain sequences show Sita wielding a sword and taking on enemies, a creative choice that has not gone down well with some sections of the audience. Actor Mukesh Khanna has also criticised the depiction, questioning its authenticity and arguing that Sita was never portrayed as a warrior in Valmiki’s Ramayana. Now, Indira Krishnan, who is also part of the film, has weighed in on the debate, sharing her perspective on Sita’s warrior avatar.Speaking about Sai Pallavi’s portrayal of Sita, Indira Krishnan told News18, “I would also go with the audience. As a child, when I watched Ramayan, I never saw Sita as a warrior. I couldn’t connect this bit with what I had watched in the old television show.”However, Indira also explained the creative thought behind the sequence and why the filmmakers chose to present Sita in this manner. She added, “The makers wanted to portray that Sita isn’t weak. She belonged to a family of warriors where they made sure that the girl child learns the art of wielding a sword. Through the sequence, they’ve depicted the valour of Sita, who was otherwise soft-minded. In our film, every woman has her own strength. No woman depicted in our film is weak. Our makers didn’t change history or mythology. They simply highlighted what a woman should be.”Actor Mukesh Khanna has also expressed strong objections to the depiction of Sita in Namit Malhotra’s ‘Ramayana’. In a YouTube vlog, he accused the makers of prioritising the film’s commercial interests over the authenticity of the epic. Questioning the sequence in which Sita fights demons, he said, “People have objected to Sita fighting like the Rani of Jhansi. In the film, she is fighting 2-3 monsters; I cross-checked this in Valmiki’s Ramayana, and this is not there in it. From what I know, Maa Sita never fought. She was never a fighter; had she been one, she would have fought with Ravana when he tried to abduct her. How did he manage to abduct her just like that?”Mukesh also took issue with the producer’s reported explanation that the sequence drew inspiration from the Adbhuta Ramayana rather than Valmiki’s version. He said, “What shocked me was that I saw a post where the producer justified the scene and said that the scene was not taken from Valmiki’s Ramayana, but from another book called Adbhut Ramayana. There was only one original Ramayana, which was written by Valmiki; whatever is written in it, you cannot go two steps ahead of it. People have written different versions of the Ramayana only for entertainment, not to make a film on it. Can the producer fabricate the Quran or the Bible? If not, then how dare he fabricate the Ramayana? I want to ask: where did he get the scene of Maa Sita fighting from, and why did he put it in the film?”The actor further expressed his displeasure over filmmakers introducing new elements into a story that generations have grown up watching. He concluded, “We have grown up watching that; how can you put a new scene about Maa Sita in that? You should feel ashamed.”A few weeks ago, Sai Pallavi spoke about preparing for the sword-fighting sequences while interacting with comedian Zarna Garg. The actress explained that the action portions required training and that the makers wanted to give them a graceful, dance-like quality. She said, “When it came to fighting with a sword, I did have to take some practice. We had great stunt directors. They wanted to make it look more like a dance, where it looks like a princess who is floating through with her swords. It was an interesting process. We all grew up watching a different version of Sita Maa. So to have this for this generation felt really good.”While Valmiki’s Ramayana does not depict Sita fighting alongside Rama in battle, other retellings of the epic offer different interpretations of her character. The Adbhuta Ramayana, in particular, contains an account in which Sita assumes a fierce warrior form to defeat a powerful demon. The differing versions have once again brought the question of creative interpretation and mythological authenticity into focus following the film’s release.c
