Bengaluru: The most audacious number in Indian cinema now has an official clarification. At the Bengaluru promotional event for Ramayana on Thursday, actor-producer Yash said the ₹4000-crore budget cited for the mythological epic is real — but it covers the entire two-part franchise, not the first film alone.
What the figure includes
“Ramayana is a two-part project, and the budget for both the movies combined is definitely ₹4000 crore,” Yash said. He said the estimate includes post-production and promotional expenses as well, a detail that matters because the film’s marketing continues to unfold across India even as producer Namit Malhotra manages business work in the United States.
Ramayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Prime Focus Studios and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. Ranbir Kapoor plays Rama, Sai Pallavi plays Sita and Yash plays Ravana. A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer have composed the music. The first instalment is scheduled for November 5, 2026.
A number designed for global ears
Yash acknowledged that Malhotra’s earlier statement went viral and that trade observers have debated whether any Indian production could recover such an outlay. His defence was as much about marketing as accounting.
“In India, there is a problem. People don’t like it when you talk confidently. That’s what happened with Namit’s statement,” Yash said. In Western markets, he argued, the opposite applies: a project presented too humbly can be dismissed as small. The ₹4000-crore claim, he said, is intended to prove the strength of the Indian film industry to the global market.
Why scrutiny is already high
The budget debate is entangled with questions about craft. The first trailer, released two months ago, was questioned for its visual effects. The makers have since released a fresh trailer on the Sony Pictures Entertainment YouTube channel. Sony Pictures is the global distributor, while Malhotra’s visual effects studio DNEG is handling the VFX.
- Combined budget: ₹4000 crore for two films.
- Inclusions: post-production and promotional expenses.
- First release: November 5, 2026.
- Global distributor: Sony Pictures.
- VFX: DNEG.
The box-office frame
Yash did not offer a per-film split, so the recovery arithmetic remains open. But as a two-part outlay, the project sits above the budgets of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), according to the source. That positions Ramayana as an attempt to price Indian mythology at global blockbuster scale, with the commercial risk spread across two releases rather than concentrated in one opening weekend.
The November release will be the first test of that scale claim. A record budget does not just buy spectacle; it raises the standard against which the spectacle is judged.
Source: The Hindu
Comments