Mukesh Khanna rejects Sai Pallavi’s sword-wielding Sita, tells Ramayana makers: ‘You should feel ashamed'

One of television's most recognisable mythological faces, actor Mukesh Khanna, has criticized the makers of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana for rewriting a sacred text and prioritizing money over faithfulness. Khanna, who played the character of Bhishma in BR Chopra's Mahabharat, expressed his concerns on his YouTube channel about scenes in which Sai Pallavi's character, Sita, is depicted as a sword-wielding warrior.

Khanna went back to the original source text, Valmiki's Ramayana, to verify the authenticity of these scenes. He pointed out that in the film, Sita is shown fighting two to three monsters, which he claims is not present in the original text. According to Khanna, Maa Sita never fought and would have confronted Ravana if she had been a fighter. The actor also questioned the justification provided by the producer, who claimed that the scene was taken from a later retelling called Adbhut Ramayana and not from Valmiki's text.

Khanna drew a comparison to Ekta Kapoor's Mahabharat version, which altered the character of Satyavati, and asked why the filmmakers felt the need to introduce a new scene with Maa Sita fighting. He expressed disappointment in the makers and urged them to feel ashamed of tampering with the original story.

However, Sai Pallavi, who plays the role of Sita, defended the warrior portrayal by stating that the action was choreographed to resemble dance rather than combat. She mentioned that the stunt directors aimed to create a visually appealing sequence where Sita appeared to float through with her swords, making it look more like a princess than a fighter.

Pallavi believed that creating this version for the new generation was a positive development. Despite the controversy, the film's box office performance has not been affected, with Ramayana Part 1 earning Rs 663.90 crore worldwide in its first five days.