Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming two-part mythological epic Ramayana is one of the most talked about Indian films around the globe, ever since the makers unveiled the first glimpse last month. The star-studded ensemble and the cutting-edge visuals and worldbuilding suggest it’s arguably the most expensive Indian film made till date.
The budget of Ramayana is as high as Rs 4,000 crore. “I don’t know if it’s Rs 4,000 crore. I asked the same to Namit (Malhotra, co-producer), and he was visibly hurt that I asked that question. He said, ‘I’m not here to calculate the budget. I want to make Ramayana part 1 and 2 out of shiddat (passion),” revealed trade analyst Komal Nahata.
Earlier, in a podcast, Namit had told Prakhar Gupta, “So, when we set out to make it, six, seven years ago, just after the pandemic, when we started to really get serious about mounting it and producing it, and budget-wise, it was like everybody thought I’m a lunatic. Because no Indian film, by a long distance, comes close to it. So, to put it simply, it’ll be about $500 million by the time we’re done, on both films put together, part one and part two, which is over Rs 4,000 crore.”
On Faridoon Shahryar’s podcast, Nahata recalled his conversation with Namit Malhotra, who claimed it doesn’t matter if he invests even 3x the budget as long as he can show the world that India is capable of telling such stories and making such films. Nahata added that Malhotra told him he doesn’t even know where the money is coming from, but he’s just pumping it in to secure a historical finished product.
“Ramayana and Mahabharata are the best stories ever. Every story is based on the Ramayana or the Mahabharata in some way or the other. This is the story of the Ramayana itself. How they’re making it will shake the world and cinema buffs,” added Nahata, who suspects Hollywood will hail Ramayana as the gold standard for VFX and special effects in the future.
Nahata attributed the possibility of this achievement to Malhotra’s company Prime Focus or DNEG, which has already won eight Academy Awards for its visual effects in Hollywood tentpoles like Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Tenet (2020), Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014), Damien Chazelle’s First Man (2018), and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Dune franchise.
“When I asked Namit why Indian films are being talked about like this when it’s the Indians who are doing all the graphics, he said because we don’t have the budget and vision of Hollywood, but otherwise we’re capable of delivering,” said Nahata, adding, “Now, Namit Malhotra’s company will deliver the vision and the means, the money. Namit has it. So, what was lacking, he’s got into Ramayana. Therefore, why will it not succeed?”
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Nahata revealed that whenever he calls Malhotra, he’s always busy on the Ramayana set. “He’s such an involved producer! He says he’s not producing to write cheques or coordinate dates. That’s not his job. All that will be done by his assistants and employees. His job is to be involved in the making of the film not as the captain of the ship, but as a creative producer,” added Nahata.
He also lauded Malhotra’s plan to release Ramayana in 30-50 international and local languages using Artificial Intelligence. “That’s his vision, that’s his plan. So I think it’s just waiting to explode on the screens of the world, not just of India or of the traditional overseas markets. Maybe he’ll throw open an entire new world to Hindi films,” argued Nahata.
Nahata also praised director Nitesh Tiwari’s poise, “super sharp brain,” and “immense clarity of thought.” He also hailed Ranbir Kapoor, who’ll play Rama in the franchise, as “sincere,” “dedicated,” and “one of the best actors of the current times,” who will “deliver his 2,000%.” Besides Ranbir, Ramayana stars Sai Pallavi as Sita, co-producer Yash as Ravana, and Sunny Deol as Hanuman among others. Its score is being composed by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer. Ramayana part 1 and 2 are slated to release in cinemas worldwide on Diwali 2026 and 2027 respectively.
