Ramayana Part 1 entered with the widest release an Indian film has secured—50,000 screens overseas through Sony Pictures and an estimated 8,000–9,000 screens in India—but its opening-day collection landed below a film that was widely derided three years ago. The Nitesh Tiwari epic collected ₹64.85 crore net in India on day one, according to Hindustan Times, while Om Raut’s Adipurush had opened to ₹86.75 crore net in June 2023.
That gap is the story. Ramayana had two big stars, higher ticket prices, premium formats such as IMAX and positive first reactions. Adipurush had negative reviews and a much-maligned take on the epic, but it had Prabhas and a Telugu audience that turned out at scale.
The numbers behind the miss
Scale did not translate into footfalls. Ramayana sold around 25 lakh tickets on day one across India, with its Hindi version earning ₹47 crore. Adipurush sold roughly 55 lakh tickets on its first day: ₹37 crore net in Hindi and ₹48 crore net in Telugu. A large part of that total came from the Telugu states and pockets of North India where Prabhas’s fan base mobilised despite the reviews.
Ramayana’s overseas opening was no more reassuring. Its first-day international gross of around $5.3 million came from an unprecedentedly large footprint, yet sat below this year’s Dhurandhar 2, which was banned in the Gulf. Adipurush had earned $3 million overseas on day one, using only about 6% of the screen count Ramayana had.
- Ramayana: ₹64.85 crore net India day one; 25 lakh tickets; $5.3 million overseas gross.
- Adipurush: ₹86.75 crore net India day one; 55 lakh tickets; $3 million overseas gross on far fewer screens.
- Budget and scale: Ramayana is mounted at ₹1,600 crore with a sequel set for 2028; Adipurush was made at ₹550 crore.
What this means for Hindi cinema
The comparison is less about which adaptation is better and more about what opens a film. Ramayana built an event on distribution muscle; Adipurush ran on a regional star’s fandom. Screen count sets capacity, not demand. Higher average ticket prices can lift net collections even when occupancy is thinner, which is why footfalls matter as much as the headline figure.
For readers who follow Hindi cinema closely, the day-one miss is a caution against reading release size as heat. Overseas word of mouth and the Diwali period may still lift the domestic run, but the opening was expected to be a record and was not. Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman.
Source: Hindustan Times
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