Days before Diwali, the first part of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana opens in cinemas, and producer Namit Malhotra is not selling it as another retelling. He is selling it as India’s entry into a category Hollywood has long controlled: large-format global spectacle.
Speaking to PTI after a world premiere at the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles, Malhotra pointed to Avatar, Avengers and The Odyssey as the reference class. “We’re putting Ramayana right up there next to all of those spectacles,” he said.
The two-part adaptation of Valmiki’s epic carries a rumoured budget of Rs 4,000 crore, a figure Malhotra has never confirmed. The film is produced through Prime Focus Studios with Oscar-winning VFX house DNEG, where Malhotra is global CEO, and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations.
The pitch: narrow the spectacle gap
Malhotra’s argument is that India makes big hits, but not the kind of global event cinema the West produces. “If you can do it, we can do it too,” he said. He also wants Western audiences to discover an original epic that predates the Odyssey, Tolkien and Star Wars.
The release tests a larger proposition. Indian films have produced domestic blockbusters such as Baahubali, but the Ramayana team is explicitly using 3D, IMAX and DNEG’s eight Academy Awards as proof that Indian infrastructure can now compete at Hollywood budgets and finish.
What the first part covers
- Opens Thursday, three days before Diwali
- Directed by Nitesh Tiwari; Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman
- Part one charts Ravana’s rise, Rama’s birth and marriage, exile, and ends with Sita’s abduction
- Part two, expected in a year, follows the rescue from Lanka
The decision to open with Ravana’s rise gives Yash a substantial early presence and frames the epic as a clash of two worlds rather than a purely devotional retelling.
Why this matters beyond the film
For the industry, the claim matters more than one release. A successful large-format epic would give Hindi cinema a new export template, much as Baahubali proved regional spectacle could travel; a failure would make future budgets harder to justify. The Thursday opening is therefore the first signal, not the last.
Controversy and accountability
The campaign has not been frictionless. Song “Mangal Rang” drew objections over its Sufi-inspired elements, early visual effects were criticised online, and Kapoor apologised after a verbal slip at a Dussehra event. Malhotra said his first litmus test is his mother, then the people of India. “She comes first and then the people of India because that’s who this belongs to,” he said.
His message to audiences is about individual commitment: he argued that no one in India or Hollywood has put so much personal money into an original film concept. The risk is that a promise of spectacle is now being measured by an audience that has already begun pushing back.
Source: The Times of India
Comments