Two days before Ramayana: Part One opens in cinemas, Nitesh Tiwari’s retelling of the epic received an industry send-off at an IMAX theatre in Mumbai’s Lower Parel on November 3. The film is scheduled for a November 5 theatrical release.
A family affair on the red carpet
Alia Bhatt attended in a sea-blue saree with an embellished halterneck blouse, while Neetu Kapoor chose a coordinated brown cowl-neck top and wide-legged trousers. Both were there in support of Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Rama. Ranbir arrived in a maroon kurta and black trousers, a look that mixed traditional and contemporary without tipping into costume.
Sunny Deol, who plays Hanuman, appeared in an all-white suit with a sky-blue shirt. When Ravie Dubey—Lakshman in the film—touched his feet on the red carpet, the gesture circulated quickly among fans. The moment reads as a reminder of the film’s own register: deference to elders is not just a cultural formality but part of the text it is adapting.
The scale of what is being attempted
Ramayana: Part One is not a small, arthouse retelling. It arrives with a large ensemble and a first-chapter structure, casting Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. Choosing an IMAX theatre for the industry screening is its own statement: it frames the film as spectacle, not merely a respectful retelling, and asks audiences to experience it on a large canvas.
For Hindi cinema spectators with historical memory, this is also a genre with a long shadow. Ramanand Sagar’s television Ramayan became a national event in the late 1980s, and any new telling is measured against that collective recall. A theatrical, big-screen version has to satisfy both reverence and spectacle.
What the premiere tells us
- The core cast and their families showed up, suggesting internal confidence ahead of release.
- The screening was for industry guests, not a public premiere, which can help shape first word-of-mouth.
- The release date remains November 5, with only days left for final audience conversations to build.
Also present were Vivek Oberoi, Rakul Preet Singh, Kajal Aggarwal, Lara Dutta, Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Shaheen Bhatt, Soni Razdan, and Aadar and Armaan Jain. The turnout underlines how closely the Hindi film industry is watching this project.
Why this matters for the record
For Bollywood Chronicle readers, the importance is less about red-carpet fashion than about what the premiere sequence tells us. The event has done its work: it puts the film back in the news cycle at the most useful moment, two days before release. The next 48 hours will show whether the industry’s initial warmth translates into advance booking and opening-day interest. For a film of this scale, the premiere is best read as the start of a public record, not the conclusion of one.
The industry’s blessing is now a matter of record. Ticket counters will deliver the next one.
Source: News18
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