Early critical reaction to Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana Part 1 has settled on an unlikely front-runner. A review in The Hindu, cited by EasternEye, says Yash makes a “particularly strong impression” as Ravana, standing out alongside Ranbir Kapoor’s central performance as Lord Rama.
The burden of playing Rama
Ranbir Kapoor’s casting placed him at the centre of one of the most closely watched projects in Indian cinema. Rama’s cultural and religious significance brings expectations no ordinary action hero faces. The character’s strength is expressed through compassion, discipline, courage and restraint, which is a subtler screen register than the grand gesture. The review’s emphasis on Ravana does not read as a dismissal of Kapoor; it reads as evidence of how quiet virtue can be harder to register in an opening instalment.
Why Yash’s Ravana lands louder
Yash has the advantage of playing a figure built from ambition, authority and formidable presence. Following the KGF franchise, he also brings a proven capacity for dominating a frame. Ravana is intelligent, ambitious, devout and arrogant, as the epic itself insists; that complexity gives an actor more obvious tools. The review’s early verdict suggests Yash is using them.
- The central contrast: Rama’s restraint and moral clarity face off against Ravana’s ambition and command.
- The casting context: Yash’s KGF-era screen presence fits a character built on power and authority.
- The wider frame: Sai Pallavi plays Sita, Sunny Deol plays Hanuman, and Ravi Dubey plays Lakshman.
- The plan: Ramayana is being developed as a two-part adaptation, with Part 1 establishing characters and conflict.
What this means for the two-part plan
In a two-part adaptation, the first instalment has to do more than introduce the world; it has to establish the force of the opposition. A magnetic Ravana raises the dramatic stakes for the confrontation that defines the epic. At the same time, it creates a high bar: the eventual face-off between Rama and Ravana now has to justify the attention the antagonist has drawn. For Hindi cinema’s audience, that is the true test of Nitesh Tiwari’s structure.
A single review, not a verdict
The initial response is one critical voice, and full reactions may tell a different story. Still, for a production this size, the early focus on the villain is itself notable. It gives Ramayana Part 1 a distinct talking point, and gives audiences a lens through which to watch the two central performances as the review cycle continues.
Source: EasternEye
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