Veteran actor Anupam Kher has lent his voice to Jatayu, the mythic vulture demigod who attempts to rescue Sita during her abduction by the demon king Ravana, in Nitesh Tiwari's two-part epic Ramayana.
Kher's association with the film was announced by the makers on Tuesday (October 13). Sharing a poster on Instagram, the makers welcomed Kher to the film's voice cast, writing, "When evil took flight, courage rose to meet it. He fought not for victory, but for what was right. Jatayu. The Wings of Dharma. Anupam Kher as Jatayu in Ramayana."
The post also revealed that advanced bookings for Ramayana, slated for a Diwali release, will open in eight days.
The most expensive Indian film ever made, Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana. The makers have been rolling out character posters for various key characters in the epic. Earlier, individual assets for Arun Govil (King Dasharath), Lara Dutta (Kaikeyi) and Sheeba Chaddha (Manthara) were unveiled.
Jatayu, in Hindu myth, is a demigod who appears in vulturine form. He is the nephew of Garuda and an old friend of Rama's father, Dashrath. The official trailer for Ramayana, released in August, showed a CGI Jatayu ambushing the Pushpaka Vimana, the self-steering flying chariot of Ravana in which he abducts Sita. The aerial confrontation supplies one of the key spectacles in the story of Ramayana.
Anupam Kher, 71, had previously dubbed for the character Carl Fredricksen in the Hindi version of Up, released in 2009. The veteran also voiced Monty the horse in the animated children's film The Lion of Judah.
Ramayana has been officially titled Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. The film is scheduled to release worldwide on November 6. It will release in both Hindi and English in IMAX and other formats.
Interestingly, while several major characters from the film have been teased, fans are yet to catch a glimpse of Sunny Deol as Hanuman. According to speculations, Deol will make a late entry in Ramayana and feature prominently in the second installment, scheduled for Diwali, 2027.