IT raids at Prime Focus cast shadow over ₹4,000-crore Ramayana

The first part of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana is still months from its Diwali 2026 release, but the film’s production ecosystem is already in the news for reasons beyond its star cast. On October 7, Income Tax teams reportedly began searches at the Mumbai offices of Prime Focus Ltd, the visual-effects and post-production company founded by producer Namit Malhotra.

The searches continued into Wednesday morning, with reports saying premises linked to individuals associated with Prime Focus were also covered. CNBC-TV18 reported the action is linked to “certain foreign remittance transactions,” though no details have been made public.

A VFX powerhouse under the spotlight

Prime Focus began in Mumbai in 1997 and grew into a global studio offering visual effects, post-production, animation and technology services. It is closely associated with DNEG, the Oscar-winning VFX company. DNEG has won eight Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, including for Inception, Interstellar, Tenet and both Dune films.

That legacy makes the timing significant. Prime Focus is not a vendor on the sidelines; it is one of the studios backing Ramayana through Prime Focus Studios, Monster Mind Creations and DNEG. The Income Tax action also appeared to move the market: Prime Focus shares reportedly fell around 8% in morning trading on October 7.

The ₹4,000-crore epic at stake

The film itself is an enormous bet. Ramayana is based on Valmiki’s Sanskrit epic and has been mounted on a reported budget of ₹4,000 crore, making it one of the most expensive and ambitious projects Indian cinema has attempted. It stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Yash as Ravana, with a large supporting cast.

At San Diego Comic-Con, Namit Malhotra described the scale in one breath: “Ramayana is like Avatar meets Gladiator in the world of Lord of the Rings.” The first part is planned for Diwali 2026, with the story told across two films.

What the audience should watch for

For fans, the immediate question is whether the searches affect the release. As of now, no delay has been announced and the tax action is a corporate matter, not a change to the film’s calendar. Still, a regulatory cloud can create noise around a project this visible. Here is what matters most:

• No release change yet: Diwali 2026 remains the stated window for part one.
• The focus is financial: reports point to foreign remittance transactions, not the film’s content.
• The stock reaction is real: Prime Focus shares reportedly dropped about 8% in early trading.
• The cast and scale are intact: the film’s budget and star lineup remain the big story.

For an audience that follows stars as closely as films, the headline is simple: a ₹4,000-crore spectacle now has a tax-season subplot. The next meaningful update will be whether Prime Focus or the makers clarify the searches before the film’s promotional engine fully starts.

Source: Hindustan Times

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#Bollywood#DNEG#IT raids#Namit Malhotra#Prime Focus#Ramayana#Ranbir Kapoor#Yash