It was "disheartening" for the team of "Adipurush", the big-budget feature adaptation of "Ramayana", when the film's first teaser was panned leading to a delay in its release, but filmmaker Om Raut said they utilised the time to make the movie better.

"Adipurush", starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan, had courted controversy in October 2022 after the first teaser of the movie was heavily criticised on social media for the quality of visual effects as well as its depiction of Hindu deities.

It was also slammed for the apparent Islamisation of Lankesh, played by Saif, as the demon king was seen sporting a beard and buzz cut. The row prompted the makers to push the release date of the movie from January to June 2023.

"Getting those five-six months extra was very important for us. We gave that time to our visual effects studios to make their work better," Raut told PTI in an interview.

"Challenges are always there but that will only make our cinema better and journey stronger. Especially with a film like this, which is a first of its kind in India, as we have used technology that is seen in big Hollywood films like Marvels, DC and 'Avatar', ” he added.

Producer Bhushan Kumar of T-Series said the controversy left the team heartbroken initially but they took it in stride.

"With some criticism in the beginning, which is always healthy, we got a little disheartened as we had worked hard on the film. But still we learnt many things from that.

"We moved on and have improved things as per people's suggestions. We are very happy with the product now. The kind of response we're getting now is fabulous,” Kumar said.

Also starring Sunny Singh and Devdatta Nage, "Adipurush" is now set to hit the theatres on June 16. Before its theatrical debut, the movie will have its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Raut said the festival is a platform for them to make the international audience aware about the story of "Ramayana" and Lord Ram.

"We wanted to tell the story of Shri Ram and 'Ramayana' to the youth of not just our nation but the entire world... Getting a chance to showcase your work on a global platform like Tribeca enables us to complete one of the targets that we had,” he added.

The director, who made his filmmaking debut in 2020 with the multiple National Award-winning film “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”, said he feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to present "Ramayana" in a new way.

"It is a responsibility and we do understand it. We got a little bit burdened with that responsibility, but we feel extremely lucky to have had a chance to do something like this."