Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has become the highest-grossing Hindi film ever recorded in Kerala, according to trade estimates, after just six days in cinemas. The milestone is part of a larger story: the film’s South Indian dubbed versions have collected ₹125 crore gross (₹104.50 crore nett) over the same period, the biggest six-day dubbed tally for an original Hindi film tracked by Pinkvilla.
Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi, and bankrolled by Namit Malhotra, the epic has also become the top-grossing Bollywood title in Karnataka, the report notes.
A six-day record in Kerala
In Kerala, Ramayana grossed ₹20 crore in six days. That single-state figure has already moved it past the full lifetime collections of the previous high-water marks:
- Ramayana — ₹20 crore (six days, still running)
- Dhurandhar: The Revenge — ₹19.50 crore (lifetime)
- Jawan — ₹13.40 crore (lifetime)
- Pathaan — ₹13.10 crore (lifetime)
The raw gaps are close, but the timing is the point. Dhurandhar, Jawan and Pathaan had their full theatrical lives to build those numbers; Ramayana cleared them before the end of its first week, while the film is still adding shows.
Why the dubbed numbers matter
For most Hindi releases, the South has functioned as a supplementary market rather than the main engine. A ₹125 crore gross from dubbed versions across the region in six days suggests Ramayana is playing like a local event picture, not merely a Hindi import. That shift matters for studio planning: how many screens to allocate in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam markets, and how much marketing budget to place behind a regional push at launch.
Gross collections include taxes, while nett figures strip them out; both can move once final numbers are audited, so these should be read as trade estimates rather than certified accounts. Even with that caveat, the pattern is clear. A mythological subject with strong word-of-mouth is drawing audiences in territories where Hindi originals usually fight for space against local-language blockbusters.
What to watch next
The film is currently competing in South India with Suriya’s Scene, which trade accounts say is also performing strongly. The test for Ramayana will be its weekday holds in Kerala and Karnataka, now that opening demand has been established and the film is seeking a longer run. Pinkvilla reports positive word-of-mouth and rising demand for more shows in the South, both signals that the run may extend beyond a front-loaded opening.
Bollywood’s southern benchmark has been reset. From this point, any original Hindi film trying to cross the region will be measured against a six-day total, not just a lifetime score.
Source: PINKVILLA
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