Ramayana’s ₹4,000 cr set felt surreal to Addinath Kothare
Addinath Kothare, who plays Bharat in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, recalls his surreal first day on the Ayodhya set with Ranbir, Sai Pallavi and Ravi Dubey.
Addinath Kothare is still processing his first day on the biggest Indian film set of his career. The Marathi actor plays Bharat in Nitesh Tiwari’s two-part Ramayana, and he told Hindustan Times that walking into the Ayodhya schedule felt “absolutely surreal.”
The update arrives as Navratri begins, a period when audiences are already thinking about mythological stories. The makers used Sunday’s festival start to confirm the November 5 release date.
The first day in Ayodhya
Kothare recalled the entire principal cast being present for the early shoot. “I remember the first day of shoot when I was there and we were shooting something in Ayodhya… the whole cast was there,” he said, listing Ranbir Kapoor, Ravi Dubey and Sai Pallavi. But the emotional weight did not sink in until he was home.
“I remember coming back home and sitting with my family and thinking, ‘What just happened today!'” he added. The scale, he suggested, became real once he was away from the camera.
The team behind the two-part epic
Tiwari’s adaptation stars Kapoor as Lord Rama, Pallavi as Sita and Dubey as Lakshman. Kothare plays Bharat, one of the four brothers at the centre of the story. Dubey and Yash make their Hindi film debuts with the project.
The ensemble also includes Sunny Deol, Anupam Kher, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, Arun Govil, Indira Krishnan and Lara Dutta. Namit Malhotra and Yash are backing the production through Prime Focus Studios, Monster Mind Creations and DNEG.
Kothare pointed to the music team as an early sign of ambition: AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer are both involved. He cited growing up with Zimmer’s scores, including The Dark Knight.
Why the first-day story matters
For an audience that follows stars as closely as the films, a memory like this matters. It turns a ₹4,000 crore production into something personal—a working actor coming home and realising he is part of a cultural event, not only a commercial release.
The pan-India nature of the casting is also the story. A Marathi actor sits alongside Hindi and Kannada stars in a film designed for a global audience, and the early conversation is warm rather than purely promotional.
Kothare’s praise for the technicians mirrors how the film is being positioned: as a rare Indian production where the craft, music and scale are meant to match the source material. For ticket buyers, that promise is as important as the cast list.
- Release date: Part one opens worldwide on November 5, three days before Diwali.
- Budget: The film is reported to be mounted at ₹4,000 crore, among the costliest films ever produced in India.
- Structure: Part one is scheduled for Diwali 2026 and part two for Diwali 2027.
The first part arrives on November 5, and the second is already set for Diwali 2027. Expect more cast conversations and first-look moments as the team builds toward the opening weekend.
Source: Hindustan Times
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