Expresso Entertainment Feature: Who is Adipurush writer Manoj Muntashir?

Lyricist-writer Manoj Muntashir found himself at the centre of the ongoing controversy around the film Adipurush after a section of its core audience complained that certain lines of dialogue written by him offended their religious sensibilities. And his subsequent comments in defence of his creative decisions have further alienated him from his audience.

But this isn’t the first time that Muntashir has attracted criticism. Here’s a brief introduction, and a rundown of his past controversies:

01
Changing name
Muntashir, which means 'scattered soul' in Urdu, is a pen name. He was born Manoj Shukla in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. In a radio interview, he said that he chose the name Muntashir 'randomly' because he felt that Shukla didn't have 'weight'. He later changed his name to Manoj Muntashir Shukla.

02
Career beginnings
As a lyricist, Muntashir has written songs such as d "Teri Mitti", "Galliyan", "Tere Sang Yaara", "Kaun Tujhe", "Dil Meri Na Sune", "Kaise Hua", and "Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga". He has also written the Hindi dialogues for Telugu-language films Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, in addition to Marvel's Black Panther. Muntashir has credited none other than Amitabh Bachchan as discovering him and allowing him to write scripts for the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. He went on to write for India’s Got Talent and Indian Idol Junior. He recalled, "In three or four months, I went from the pavement to having my car."

03
Influences
Muntashir in an interview with Scroll cited the legendary Salim-Javed as influences. He said, "The way Salim-Javed understood the pulse of the audience who spends three hundred rupees in a dark theatre to watch a film is amazing. Salim-Javed had the conviction to turn small everyday lines into dialogues. And they did it by creating great situations but balancing them with minimalist lines. I want to bring that kind of simplicity in my writing.”

04
'Teri Mitti' controversy
Muntashir, like many major composers and writers working in the Indian film industries, has also faced accusations of plagiarism. It was discovered that his song "Teri Mitti", for the film Kesari, was similar to Haqeeqat’s "Kar Chale Hum Fida", which was written by Kaifi Azmi. Some people also claimed that he had plagiarised his poem ‘Mujhe Call Karna’ from his book ‘Meri Fitrat Hai Mastana’ from a 2007 poem by Robert Lavery. He said in a video posted on social media, addressing these allegations, “None of my creations are 100% original. File petitions against me and I will respect every decision of the court. Momin’s lines inspired one stanza of the song Teri Galiyan, Tere Sang Yara was inspired by Firakh Gorakhpuri’s couplets and my song Teri Mitti has been translated into so many languages but I do not think my name was written anywhere,"

05
Boycotting Filmfare Awards
After "Teri Mitti" lost at the Filmfare Awards to the Gully Boy song "Apna Time Ayega," Muntashir took to his favourite venue, Twitter, and shot off another rant, "Dear Awards... Even if I try all my life. I won’t be able to write a better line than ‘Tu Kahti Thee Tera Chaand Hoon Main Aur Chaand Humesha Rahta hai’. You failed to honour the words which made millions of Indians cry and care for their motherland. It would be a great disrespect to my art if I continue caring for you. So here I bid you a final goodbye. I officially announce- I won’t attend any award show till I breathe my last. Alvida.”

06
'Mughals are dacoits' controversy
In 2021, Muntashir courted controversy when he posted a video on Twitter titled “Who are your ancestors?” In the video, Muntashir called Mughal emperors 'dacoits', and was criticised by several people from his industry for 'seeding hate' towards the Muslim minority.

07
Defending Adipurush's dialogues
A day after Adipurush was released in theatres to a negative response mostly centred around his dialogues, Muntashir appeared in an interview on Republic and attempted to defend his creative choices. He said, "A very meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogues for Bajrangbali. We have made it simple because we have to understand one thing (that) if there are multiple characters in a film, all of them can’t speak the language. There has to be a kind of diversion, a division.”

08
Adipurush is not an adaptation of the Ramayana
A day after defending his writing, Muntashir appeared in an interview with Aaj Tak and made his most outrageous claim yet. He said that Adipurush isn't an adaptation of the Ramayana at all, but is merely inspired by it.

09
Being vilified
Announcing that changes will be made to the objectionable dialogues, Muntashir wrote in a Twitter note that he has been made a punching bag. He wrote, "I can give countless arguments in favour of my dialogues, but this will not reduce your pain. I and the producer-director of the film have decided that some of the dialogues which are hurting you, we’ll revise them. They’ll be added to the film this week. May Shri Ram bless you all,” adding that he wrote around 4000 lines of dialogue for the film, which weren't controversial.

10
Comments on Hanuman
In new interviews, Muntashir further dug himself into a hole when he claimed that Hanuman isn't a god, and described his depiction in the film as 'childlike'. He told Aaj Tak in an interview, "Lord Hanuman is not a god but a devotee. We have bestowed upon him the status of a deity."