Days after the trailer of Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana’ was unveiled in India, veteran actor Mukesh Khanna has questioned the way Lord Rama has been portrayed in the upcoming epic. He particularly criticised the action sequences and extensive use of visual effects, arguing that the character should retain the dignity associated with ‘Maryada Purushottam’.In a recent interaction, Mukesh Khanna said he felt the makers had presented Lord Rama more like a conventional action hero rather than focusing on his revered image. He also questioned the depiction of Rama performing elaborate action sequences that, according to him, are not traditionally associated with the character.‘Sri Ram ko dhanurdhar bana diya hai. Sri Ram dhanurdhar the. Bhagwan ka roop hai, avatar hai. Krishna bhi Bhagwan ke avatar the. Par jis tarah ke fight sequence dikhaye hain, ki Sri Ram ped ke upar uth ke teer nahi marte, kabhi dekha nahi. Itni Ramayan padhi hai. Ramleela dekhi hai. Sri Ram ko Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, bana diya, Rajinikanth bana diya. Ram Maryada Purushottam hain. Smile karte the,’ (Ram was a warrior, an expert at shooting arrows. But he never climbed up trees to shoot arrows. I have read the Ramayana, seen Ramleela, but haven’t seen this before. They have made Lord Rama into Salman Khan, Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan), said Mukesh Khanna in an interview with Bollywood Now.He further criticised the action-heavy portrayal, saying, “Ramji aise fight nahi karte the. Ramji ko man of action bana diya, Clint Eastwood bana diya.”Mukesh also expressed reservations about the scale of the visual effects in ‘Ramayana’. According to him, the international audience may view the film primarily as a large-scale fantasy spectacle, but the depiction carries a different significance for Indian audiences because of the religious and cultural connection with Lord Rama.“I have heard they have planned a global release. Bahar ke logon ka farq nahi padta Ram ki image se. Woh ise Star Wars se compare karenge. Par India mein aap agar Ram dikha rahe ho, toh aastha se dikhao,” (People abroad don’t have an image of Rama. But if you bring Rama to the Indian audience, there has to be respect and dignity), said Mukesh Khanna.‘Ramayana’, starring Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Sai Pallavi as Sita, has been mounted on a massive scale. The film is reportedly being made in two parts, with the makers aiming for a global audience.Producer Namit Malhotra recently opened up about the scale and budget of the ambitious project in a conversation with Prakhar Gupta. He said, “When we set out to make this six or seven years ago, people thought I was a lunatic because no Indian film comes close to this scale. Put simply, the budget will be around $500 million for both parts combined, which is over Rs 4,000 crore.”He added, “We’re making the largest film in the world for the greatest epic that deserves to be seen globally. And yet, I believe we’re doing it more efficiently than some of the biggest Hollywood films. We’re not being irresponsible—we’re being ambitious, but grounded.”