An ambitious cinematic gamble where the villain captures the imagination, and the hero struggles to match it.
Investing ₹4,000 crore in a cinematic project like Ramayana- the rise of a legend- is a bold decision. The theatrical business alone cannot deliver the return. The real ambition is to build an ecosystem around the film, its characters and merchandise. But the first film has to succeed for everything else to follow.
I watched it on the first day and then hesitated to put my review. There were barely 25 people in the theatre, which I ascribed to the pre-festive release, which at times can backfire. Yet the film has since crossed ₹1,000 crore worldwide. A significant achievement, though stabilising collections and substantially higher earnings remain essential. With no major competition until Shah Rukh Khan’s KING, scheduled for 24 December 2026, it has some breathing space.
The challenge was peculiar. Mythological epics, particularly the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, have been overexposed on OTT. Audiences know the stories and have seen multiple interpretations. Offering something different was essential. But radically changing the story or redefining established characters would have been suicidal. The real opportunities lay in casting, visualisation, and bringing lesser-explored story fragments to life.
Until 2000, much of India’s Ramayana imagery was shaped by Ramanand Sagar’s television serial. For that generation, the characters already had faces and emotional identities. The post-2000 audience expects sophisticated cinematic VFX. The film had to break with the old imagery for one audience and establish a new one for the other.
The VFX is undoubtedly among the best seen in Indian cinema. Yet, at times, the film feels like an animated film with human characters. That may be technically true, but it isn’t quite what one wanted to see. The stitching has to happen in the mind, connecting visual spectacle with the characters’ emotional reality. Here, the mind is awed by the VFX, but the characters, except Ravana and the Jatayu sequence, fail to make the corresponding leap.
Ram fails to break the old image.
My Ram was never someone overwhelmed by the demons pursuing him, retreating, regrouping and fighting a guerrilla-style war. Strategically, that may work, but MY RAM was far too powerful for the demons who challenged him. Ram (Rambir Kapoor) looks too soft, or maybe that underplaying is part of the construct for the future, when the fury would be unleashed.
Lakshman (Ravie Dubey) is brilliant and could become the next benchmark for the character. Sita’s (Sai Pallavi) casting may take time to win over audiences, but she will make her mark.
Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha and Sheeba Chaddha (Manthra) are the other two outstanding performances. Vidyutjihva, Shurpanakha’s slain husband, played by Oberoi, fails to impress in his short screen time. Faisal Malik (Panchayat fame) plays Kumbhakarna and would be one to watch in Part II. The other two to watch in Part II are Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Raghav Juyal as Meghnath.
And then there is Ravana.(Yash)
Ravana is the film’s greatest triumph.
The performance has hugely over-delivered. Intelligent, articulate, powerful, and seemingly a just ruler, he commands attention. In fact, Part I feels considerably more like Ravanayana than Ramayana. But that is also a problem. His Lanka resembles Ram Rajya, and he comes across as a justified seeker of revenge. His obsession with Sita, the desire to possess her, and the darker lust traditionally associated with the conflict seem diluted. The antagonist becomes so sympathetic that the moral balance shifts.
The film says it does not borrow from any single Ramayana. Fair enough. But audiences, and each of us, have their own Ramayana, and they expect it to resonate with the one they know.
MUSIC, SONGS and DIALOGUE.
The music by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer adds considerably to the film’s atmosphere. The songs, however, leave much to be desired. They may not find much acceptance at bhajan sandhyas. Even the best of them, Tandav, could have benefited from considerably more energetic choreography by Yash.
The dialogues work, respecting the story’s nuances and audience expectations. Directionally, it is difficult to find major fault, even if some sequences and creative liberties are unfairly trolled for not meeting individual expectations.
VISHNU AVATAR.
An interesting piece of trivia: Abhay Arora played Parashurama, with Ranbir Kapoor’s face mapped onto him. A thoughtful connection, given that both Parashurama and Ram are incarnations of Vishnu. And as a human incarnation of Vishnu (Rama) seeks to know his purpose in life, whereas everone else in the story knows about it!
THE CRUX.
The larger problem is that the Ramayana is simply too vast an epic to do justice to in two or three three-hour films. The compromises are obvious.
RECOMMENDATION.
Should you watch it? Absolutely. YES.
Watch it for the visuals, imagination, Ravana, Jatayu, cinematic impact, and its celebration of Sanatan Dharma. Just don’t expect every character to match the Ramayana as you imagine it.
A ₹4,000-crore ecosystem cannot be built on VFX alone. It needs emotional ownership.
For that, Ram must become Ram again.
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