'Not Merely A Figure Of Endurance...': Ramayana Director Nitesh Tiwari Breaks Silence On Backlash Over Sai Pallavi's Action Scenes As Sita

Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana has received mostly positive reviews from critics and the audience. But there are a few things in the movie that have left people upset. There are a lot of discussions and criticism about showing Sita (Sai Pallavi) doing action in the film. Now, Tiwari, in an interview, has opened up about the criticism and has defended it.

Nitesh Tiwari defends warrior Sita

While talking to The Federal, he said that his interpretation of Sita came from other Ramayana traditions, including the Sanskrit Adbhuta Ramayana and the 15th-century Odia Bilanka Ramayana. He said, “These tellings offer a rather different image of Sita: not merely a figure of endurance but an active warrior and an embodiment of cosmic Shakti.”

“In these versions, she assumes the fierce form of Mahakali and slays Sahasra Ravana, the thousand-headed demon king, when Rama is incapacitated,” he added.

The Dangal director further argued that a warrior Sita was not just a modern feminist idea, and similar versions of her already existed in India’s diverse epic traditions.

Dipika Chikhlia on warrior Sita in Ramayana

The Free Press Journal recently spoke to actress Dipika Chikhlia, who played the role of Sita in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan. When we asked her about the film Ramayana showing Sita as a warrior, she said, "I really don't know. The memory that I have of Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas' Ramayana, which was majorly a part of our Ramayan, I don't remember that anywhere we had those kinds of scenes. But there are more than 300 Ramayanas in our country. Every story, every Ramayana is a little different from the other one. So they (makers) may have picked up something from some Ramayana, which I'm not aware of."

Ramayana box office collection

Amid all the discussions and debates, Ramayana has been performing well at the box office. The movie has collected Rs. 612.70 crore net in India in nine days, and the worldwide gross collection stands at Rs. 1,111 crore.

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