'Ramayana' Trailer Highlights: Yash’s Ravana, Ranbir Kapoor’s Ram and a Reimagined Pushpak Vimana

The makers of the much-anticipated Ramayana unveiled the film’s trailer on Thursday, July 30. Despite the early buzz that the project was more of a spectacular take on Ramanand Sagar's Doordarshan classic, the trailer hints at a never-seen-before look at the ancient epic.

The trailer for Nitesh Tiwari's two-part epic opens with Yash's Ravana making a dramatic entrance, declaring himself the new ruler of the heavens, the earth and the underworld. The asset also unveils the film's reimagination of the Pushpak Vimaan and shares a glimpse into its take on the classic.

Here are five ways the trailer sets Tiwari's Ramayana apart from the epic's many adaptations:

Though the Ramayana has been adapted multiple times across film and television, these versions have rarely explored how Ravana rose to become Lankesh, as the focus is primarily on the story of Rama and Lakshman. However, Tiwari's Ramayana changes that as the trailer shows Ravana arriving in Lanka. When asked who he is, he declares himself as "Tumhara naya raja (Your new king).” The trailer goes on to preview Ravana's epic battle against Kubera's army, after which he seizes the kingdom of Lanka and the Pushpaka Vimana.

While earlier film and TV adaptations have pictured the Pushpaka Vimana in their own way, Tiwari's version takes a fresh approach. Here, the flying vehicle gets a distinct design, shaped like a majestic, golden lotus with petals rotating around the bud. The interiors of the vessel are also huge and at one point, we glimpse Sita trapped in its inner chambers.

The most striking creative decision seen in the trailer giving Ravana as much screen time as Rama, if not more. With the timeline laid out such that the story starts with Ravana's arrival, followed by the framing of his ambitions — the siege of Lanka, the abduction of Sita — he is not entirely presented as a conventional antagonist. Ranbir Kapoor's Rama, for much of the trailer, is shown responding to Ravana's actions rather than driving the narrative. This structural choice suggests that Tiwari's retelling of the story might allow both figures to carry equal dramatic weight.

Among the more notable aspects of the trailer is how little has been revealed of several significant cast members. Lara Dutta, who plays Kaikeyi; Sheeba Chaddha as Kaikeyi's loyal attendant Manthara; Shobana as Kaikasi, and Vivek Oberoi — playing Surpanakha's husband Vidyutjiva — each appear briefly in the trailer. Meanwhile, there is no sign of Hanuman, played by Sunny Deol, who fans speculated will arrive only at the end of the first film.

Given the many characters within the epic's narrative, what has been shown likely amounts to a fraction of their actual screen time.

For most of its runtime, the trailer belongs to Ravana. His siege of Lanka, his self-declaration as king, his ambitions and his abduction of Sita form the spine of what is shown. Rama, by contrast, is shown sparingly — present, but not yet the dominant force of the story. Then, in its final seconds, the trailer lands on a single line: "Ye Ram ki yug ka aarambh hai" — this is the beginning of the era of Ram. The line, placed at the very end of the trailer, finally gives viewers what they want. All of Ravana's rise shown till then is no longer framed as his story of triumph, but as the circumstances that will set Ram's era in motion.