Ramayana’s first part arrives with more than its VFX to defend. West Bengal has declared the film tax-free ahead of its November 5 release, and Yash is using the run-up to make an explicit plea: watch the epic with an open mind, not a checklist of flaws.
West Bengal lowers the ticket barrier
The state has added Ramayana to a list of tax-exempt releases. Suvendu Adhikari confirmed the decision to ANI, saying tickets will be cheaper in the state. He grouped the film with earlier exemptions for The Kerala Story, The Kashmir Files and The Bengal Files, and pointed to future titles on Shri Krishna, Arjuna and the Mahabharata.
For a film of this scale, state-level tax relief is a distribution lever as much as a cultural signal. It reduces the effective price a ticket buyer pays and can widen the opening-weekend audience in a key market.
Yash’s appeal is about the long game
At an event, Yash, who plays Ravana, responded to the VFX criticism that has circulated around the adaptation. He asked viewers not to ‘find small faults’ in the work, framing the film as a reputational and financial gamble by its maker. Yash said the filmmaker had ‘gambled his reputation and money’ to place the film on a global platform.
He addressed fans across Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil industries, asking them to come together. The appeal is not just about lowering expectations; it is an attempt to reframe the conversation from defects to scale.
The stakes beneath the spectacle
The release plan alone explains the pressure. The film has a reported ₹4,000-crore budget across two parts. Part one opens November 5; part two is scheduled for Diwali 2027. The first instalment therefore has to do two jobs: recover enough at the box office and preserve audience confidence for the sequel.
- Film: Ramayana, part one, releases November 5; part two is set for Diwali 2027.
- Tax status: West Bengal has granted tax-free status, making tickets cheaper in the state.
- Budget: The two-part project carries a reported ₹4,000-crore budget.
- Cast: Yash plays Ravana, with Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Ravie Dubey, Sunny Deol, Rakul Preet Singh and Vivek Oberoi among the ensemble.
- VFX: DNEG is producing; Yash has asked audiences not to hunt for minor VFX faults.
For Bollywood Chronicle readers, the tax move and the star’s appeal are two halves of the same launch strategy. Tax relief lowers the practical barrier. Yash’s request targets the more fragile one: goodwill. Whether a ₹4,000-crore myth can be judged on its scale rather than its seams will be tested almost immediately.
Source: MensXP.com
Comments