Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has moved into its release week with a sizable advance: by 11 am on 30 October, the film had crossed ₹17.14 crore in domestic advance sales, with 3.34 lakh tickets sold across the country. Once blocked seats are excluded, the India number stands at ₹14.29 crore across 2.75 lakh tickets.
Overseas, the picture is similarly strong. International advance bookings are approaching $3 million, roughly ₹28 crore, led by North America at nearly $1.9 million. The UK and Ireland have added about $268,000, while Australia and New Zealand contribute roughly $248,000.
The booking window opened in pieces
The domestic run-up has been less straightforward than the numbers suggest. Advance sales opened only after a distribution dispute between exhibitors and distributors was resolved. The disagreement was not over whether Ramayana would release, but over how opening-week revenue would be divided.
Trade reports say distributors had put forward two sharing structures. One was a three-week model: 60% in Week 1, 50% in Week 2 and 40% in Week 3. The other was a fixed 55% share for the first 11 consecutive days, before returning to usual industry terms. Both were described as higher than what even major Hindi releases typically command, which is why exhibitors paused.
With terms now settled at a section of cinemas, sales have opened there; the remaining theatres were expected to follow by 7 PM on 30 October. That staggered opening makes the current ₹17.14 crore figure more notable, because it has been built without every counter running.
What the first numbers show
- ₹17.14 crore in India advance bookings by 11 am; ₹14.29 crore after blocked seats.
- 3.34 lakh tickets sold, or 2.75 lakh excluding blocked seats.
- Nearly $3 million in overseas advance bookings, with North America at about $1.9 million.
- ₹7.25 lakh added in India between 6 am and 11 am alone.
Paid previews scheduled for 4 November have helped push North America demand, and the Los Angeles premiere has added to the overseas conversation. For a film of this scale, the first test is not just the total but the speed: a slow morning can still become a strong evening once all theatres open.
Why this matters for Hindi cinema
Ramayana is one of the most closely watched Hindi releases because it carries both a familiar mythological property and a big-ticket cast: Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The dispute also matters beyond this title. If distributors can hold out for a higher first-week share on an event film, it could reset the conversation about how event releases split risk and reward.
The immediate marker is 5 November, when the film opens. By then, the advance number should reflect a fully open booking window and give a cleaner read on whether Ramayana is front-loaded or has longer play.
Source: MensXP.com
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