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Seven years after Nitesh Tiwari began work on the project, and sixteen months after the first glimpse had social media arguing over Ranbir Kapoor's Rama and Yash's Ravana, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend opens in India on Thursday, November 5. The film is the first instalment of a two-part adaptation of Valmiki's epic, with the concluding chapter set for Diwali 2027, and has been shot for IMAX.
Produced by Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios and DNEG, in association with Yash's Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is positioned as the most expensive Indian film project on record, though the makers have been careful about what that figure covers.
Here is everything you need to know before the film arrives…
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend adapts Valmiki's Sanskrit epic, and the first instalment is reported to cover the early chapters of the saga. This includes Rama's youth under the sage Vishwamitra, the stringing of Shiva's bow at Sita's swayamvara in Mithila, and the marriage that follows. The first plot turn comes in Ayodhya, where Queen Kaikeyi invokes two old boons to bar Rama from the throne and sends him into exile for fourteen years.
Rama leaves for the Dandaka forest with Sita and Lakshmana. The reported arc then moves through the encounter with Shurpanakha, the golden deer sent by Maricha, and Ravana's abduction of Sita. The makers have not officially confirmed where Part One ends, though reports point to a cliffhanger around the abduction. If that holds, Hanuman's search for Sita, the crossing to Lanka and the war with Ravana would all fall to the second film.
Ranbir Kapoor plays Rama, the prince of Ayodhya whose acceptance of exile drives the story. The actor is also reported to appear as Parashurama. Sai Pallavi plays Sita, placing her at the centre of the epic.
Yash plays Ravana, the king of Lanka, and Ravi Dubey is Lakshmana. Sunny Deol plays Hanuman, a character whose role largely belongs to the story's second half.
The Ayodhya court carries some pointed casting. Arun Govil, who played Rama in the 1987 television serial, plays Dasharatha, Rama's father. Lara Dutta is Kaikeyi, and Sheeba Chaddha plays Manthara. In Lanka, Kajal Aggarwal plays Mandodari, Ravana's queen, while Rakul Preet Singh plays Ravana's sister Shurpanakha.
Nitesh Tiwari has directed the epic based on a screenplay he wrote with Shridhar Raghavan. The filmmaker's earlier work, from Dangal to Chhichhore, were built on family drama and sports stories rather than mythology, which makes Ramayana a sharp change of register. At a promotional event, Tiwari said the film has been seven years in the making.
Namit Malhotra is the founder of Prime Focus and the chief executive of DNEG, the visual effects studio with eight Academy Awards to its name. Malhotra announced the two-part project in November 2024 and has described the film as a story made in India for audiences worldwide. Yash's Monster Mind Creations is co-producing the film and International distribution outside India sits with Sony Pictures.
The principal cast is Ranbir Kapoor (Rama), Sai Pallavi (Sita), Yash (Ravana), Sunny Deol (Hanuman) and Ravi Dubey (Lakshmana). The supporting ensemble includes Arun Govil (Dasharatha), Lara Dutta (Kaikeyi), Indira Krishnan (Kausalya), Sheeba Chaddha (Manthara), Adinath Kothare (Bharata), Kajal Aggarwal (Mandodari), Rakul Preet Singh (Shurpanakha), Harish Uthaman (Vibhishana), Kunal Kapoor (Indra), Vivek Oberoi (Vidyutjihva) and Shishir Sharma (Vashishtha).
Behind the camera, the action is choreographed by Hollywood veterans Terry Notary (Planet of the Apes, the Avengers films) and Guy Norris (Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa). Production design is by Ravi Bansal (Dune: Part Two) and Ramsey Avery (Captain America). Dan Glass, whose credits include Batman Begins and Furiosa, has served as visual effects supervisor. Reports describe Notary as the person shaping creature movement, which plays a key role in bringing the Vanara Sena to life.
The score is created in a collaboration between AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer, marking Zimmer's first Indian project. In an exclusive interview with THR India, Rahman has revealed that the two worked on the music for around three and a half years and called the project the most exciting of his career.
Several tracks from the album have been released, among them are the 'Main Ram', 'Jai Jai Ram' and 'Mangal Rang'. The soundtrack rights now sit with Super Cassettes Industries, which led to earlier tracks being taken off streaming platforms. A music showcase led by Rahman was held in Chennai with Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi in attendance.
Namit Malhotra has put the combined cost of both films at roughly $500 million, or about ₹4,000 crore. Yash later stated that the number covers both parts together with global release and promotion, and is not the production cost of the first film alone. No separate official figure for Part One has been given.
The film was shot with IMAX-certified cameras, which makes Ramayana the first Indian production to receive the Filmed for IMAX label. DNEG and ReDefine are the visual effects partners, with Brahma AI supporting virtual production workflows and AI research. Malhotra has also spoken of using technology to localise performances, with lip-sync across languages in place of dubbing or subtitles.
On the effects side, the heavy lifting sits with DNEG, the studio behind Inception, Interstellar and Dune, working alongside ReDefine, while Brahma AI handles real-time virtual production during the shoot. Dan Glass has supervise the visual effects, and Terry Notary's performance-capture background is reported to shape the movement of the Vanara army and other creatures. The global rollout runs through Sony Pictures, which holds distribution outside India. The film premiered at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on October 27 and opens worldwide on November 5, with an English version prepared for overseas markets.
Malhotra announced the two release dates in November 2024: Diwali 2026 for Part One and Diwali 2027 for Part Two. The exact date moved around closer to release. An international trailer from Sony Pictures carried November 6, while producer-side messaging pointed to a Diwali release in India.
The makers settled the matter in October with a worldwide release date of Thursday, November 5, announced alongside the opening of bookings on Dussehra.
Advance booking opened on October 20, on occasion of Dussehra. Trade tracker Sacnilk's reports put opening-day domestic advance sales at about ₹32.4 crore gross across more than 8 lakh tickets and nearly 20,000 shows. Across all days on sale, domestic advance sales stood near ₹47.6 crore as of November 2, according to the figures reported by The Indian Express.
Worldwide advance sales were reported at roughly ₹80.8 crore on November 2, with overseas pre-sales alone crossing $2 million for opening day by late October. Some trade reports claim a worldwide opening-weekend advance of over ₹100 crore.
The first point is the ending. A film that adapts the early and middle chapters of the epic and leaves the war for next year will not deliver the climax most viewers associate with the Ramayana. Part Two's Diwali 2027 date is the payoff.
The second is the Ravana question. Yash's character is the antagonist of the saga, and some reports claim Yash has roughly 65 minutes of screen time in Part One, though the length is unconfirmed.
The third is the technology. DNEG's visual effects, the creature work on the Vanara army and the AI-driven localisation are the film's selling points and also the likeliest source of criticism. The first teaser drew mixed online reactions, and the finished work will be judged on screen.
Last is the music. Zimmer has scored an Indian film for the first time with this epic, so the soundtrack has expectations to match.
The Central Board of Film Certification cleared Ramayana: Rise of a Legend with a U certificate and no cuts on October 30. The certified runtime is 195 minutes, or 3 hours and 15 minutes, for the Hindi version.
The film releases in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, with an English version for international markets. Formats include IMAX, 3D, 4DX and Dolby Cinema.