Ramayana’s ₹4000 crore reply to ‘why another version?’
Namit Malhotra says the Ramayana's ₹4000 crore scale will show the epic as no show or Ram Leela has. Part one opens November 5, 2026.
Producer Namit Malhotra has heard the question everywhere: India already knows the Ramayana, so why make another one? At a Mumbai screening on Tuesday, he offered an answer aimed at scale rather than story.
The question is not new. The epic has been told and retold across television and stage for decades, which is exactly why Malhotra expects scepticism every time a new adaptation is announced.
Speaking to PTI, Malhotra said the new version, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is meant to deliver “the version of this story that you’ve never seen.” The point, he argued, is not retelling the epic but turning it into a visual spectacle on a scale Indian audiences have not experienced.
A comparison set that goes beyond Indian cinema
Malhotra did not benchmark the film against earlier Ramayana adaptations. Instead, he placed it beside Avatar, The Avengers, Spider-Man and The Odyssey. In his telling, no television show, street play or Ram Leela has ever presented the epic with this kind of spectacle.
That framing is deliberate. He said Western viewers are the most potent audience for grand epic spectacle, while Indian blockbusters such as Baahubali and Dhurandhar have been hits without becoming spectacles “the way Hollywood thinks of spectacles.”
The numbers behind the ambition
- Reported budget: ₹4,000 crore, among the most expensive productions in the world.
- VFX partner: DNEG, an eight-time Oscar-winning studio.
- Global release: 70,000 screens, the widest for an Indian film, via Sony Pictures.
- Release plan: Part one on November 5, 2026; part two at Diwali 2027.
Sony’s 70,000-screen plan is a statement in itself: the widest global footprint an Indian film has ever received.
Malhotra’s message to Hollywood is confident: there is no reason for a discrepancy, and India can mount a project as big as anything made in the West. “If you can do it, we can do it too,” he said.
What this means for the audience
For fans, the promise is familiar characters in a new kind of experience. Ranbir Kapoor stars as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. The film will release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, with a worldwide IMAX run.
Sony Pictures will distribute the film outside India, while Dharma Productions will handle the Hindi-speaking market.
The argument is simple: you may know the story, but you have not seen it like this. Part two will follow at Diwali 2027, extending the two-part event beyond the first global opening.
Source: Hindustan Times
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