NB Twitter Scan | How did Manoj Shukla, the dialogue writer of Adipurush, become Manoj Muntashir?

Since the theatrical release of Adipurush on the 16th of June, the movie has hit headlines for the wrong reasons. Fans, movie critics, and netizens have heavily criticized the Ramayana-based adaptation for cringeworthy dialogues, disastrous VFX, and wrong depiction of the Hindu epic in the much-hyped movie.

 

Moreover, the dialogue writer of Adipursh, Manoj Muntashir has been caught up in controversy due to the dialogues written for Adipurush.

 

 

1. Ravana's son lights up Hanuman's Tail: Jali na.. Jiski jalti hai..

 

Bajrang: Kapda tere baap ka. Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki.

 

2. Hanuman: Aap kaal ke liye kaleen bicha rahe hain.

 

3. Ravan: Jo humai beheno ko hath lagayega... uski lanka laga denge.

 

4. Ravan: Teri bua ka bageecha hi kya jo hawa khane chala aaya.

 

5. "Mere Sapole ne tumhare Sheshnaag ko lamba kar diya, abhi toh pura pitara bhara pada hai."

However, instead of dousing the fire, Manoj Muntashir escalated the controversy by making several bizarre statements after the movie.

 

Speaking with Republic TV, he defended the controversial dialogues used in the movie claiming that a "meticulous thought process" has gone into writing the dialogues of Bajrangbali.

 

 

Making things even worse, he said, "Bajrang Bali is not God, he is a devotee. We made him God after seeing his devotion", while speaking with Aaj Tak.

 

 

Amid all of this, several old videos of the popular lyricist are doing rounds on the internet. In one such video, the Adipurush dialogue writer is seen explaining the back story behind choosing the Urdu pen name ‘Muntashir’. The viral video is part of an interactive session between Bollywood’s lyricist Manoj Muntashir and the Jashn-e-Rekta host which is still out there on their official youtube channel.

 

Manoj Shukla said, "Muntashir is my pen name. How I adapted it is an interesting story. Being a poet, I needed a takhallus (pen name), but was not happy with the most popular and oft-used ones like ‘Sagar’, ‘Sahir’ or ‘Kaafir’."

 

"So when I was in Class 10, I started hunting for a unique pen name. One evening, while I was walking down my sleepy hometown of Amethi, I overheard a couplet playing on a radio set at a tea stall: Muntashir hum hain to rukhsaar pe shabnam kyun hai, Aaine toot-te rahte hain tumhe gham kyun hai. I just loved the word ‘muntashir’, which meant ‘scattered’," he added.

 

 

"In a split second, Manoj’s journey from ‘Shukla’ to ‘Muntashir’ was complete. The best part is that I am the only Muntashir who has ever existed in the world of poetry. So to date, my pen name stands unique," he said.

 

Later in the same video, he shared an anecdotal story related to his pen name. He stated that "when on one side his father (a Pandit/Pujari by profession) would chant Shiv Stotra, he would sing Khayale ger ko dil se mita de ya Rasool Allah."

 

He later added in a radio interview that he also chose Muntashir as his birth name Shukla didn't carry much weight.