A Stockholm opening for a Diwali epic
At the Stockholm premiere of Ramayana: The Rise of Legend, Anupam Kher opened with a greeting in Swedish: “Jag är mycket glad att vara här i Stockholm i kväll,” or “I am very happy to be here in Stockholm this evening.”
The actor voices Jatayu in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1, which released in Indian cinemas on 5 November 2026 during Diwali. After thanking India’s Ambassador to Sweden, Anurag Bhushan, for the introduction, Kher reflected that after 41 years and 556 films in India, he had entered Swedish cinema for the first time through the film Out of Fashion.
Tears after the screening
Writing on X and Instagram, Kher said audience members approached him after the film with tears in their eyes, shook his hand and thanked him for telling the story of the Ramayana and voicing Jatayu.
“I was completely overwhelmed. It filled me with immense pride to see a film like this come out of India and connect with audiences here,” he wrote. He pointed to the epic’s themes — love, sacrifice, family, duty and the triumph of good over evil — and added, “Proud to be Indian. Jai Shri Ram!”
- The film: Ramayana: Part 1, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra and Yash.
- The cast: Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana; Anupam Kher as the voice of Jatayu.
- The release: In cinemas on 5 November 2026; a second part is planned for Diwali 2028.
- The arc: Rama’s birth, upbringing, marriage and exile, ending with Sita’s abduction and Rama’s vow to defeat Ravana.
Why the reaction matters
For regular Hindi cinema viewers, the detail worth noting is that Kher’s Jatayu is a voice performance, not an on-screen lead. In a film led by Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, members of the Stockholm audience still approached Kher to thank him for that particular role. Kher framed the moment as national pride, not merely personal appreciation: the introduction came from India’s Ambassador to Sweden, Anurag Bhushan, and the actor closed his post with “Proud to be Indian. Jai Shri Ram!”
The Stockholm account is a small but telling signal for Hindi cinema’s global reach. The first instalment is not only a visual retelling; it is carrying an Indian epic into markets where viewers are responding to its emotional and moral core. Kher’s description puts the audience reaction — tears, gratitude and recognition of the epic’s themes — ahead of scale or spectacle. For readers who follow Hindi cinema’s history, that is a useful early measure of how the Ramayana is landing beyond India.
Source: India Weekly
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