$500 million for “Ramayana”.. Will the Indian epic become a global cinema phenomenon?

Indian film producer Namit Malhotra seems remarkably calm, despite making a $500 million production bet. In his office in the British capital, London, Malhotra is confidently dealing with questions about the revenues that his huge film adapted from the Hindu epic "Ramayana", which is scheduled to be shown in two parts, can generate.

In one of its many narratives, the epic tells the story of Prince Ram, who fights a battle against Ravana, the king of demons, after his influence threatens the gods. The original text dates back more than two thousand years, and is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki, and deals with the conflict between good and evil.

Generations of Indians grew up on this story, which was presented in several works of art, most notably a popular television series that aired in the 1980s. However, the epic has never been presented before on this production scale, or with a vision targeting a global audience.

Malhotra, CEO of British visual effects studio DNEG, winner of eight Oscars, and founder of Prime Focus Studios in Mumbai, seeks to strengthen Indian cinema's global presence and expand its audience. His role is not limited to leading the project, as he also finances it from his own money.

The largest production in the history of Indian cinema: “Ramayana” is the largest cinematic production in the history of India, with a budget estimated at about $250 million per part, a cost that puts it in the ranks of the largest Hollywood productions. But the size of the investment raises questions about the film's ability to recover its budget, especially since the highest revenues achieved by an Indian film at the global box office so far are the film "Dangal", which collected $304 million.

Taking into account the costs of the global marketing campaign, the task of recovering the budget appears to be a major challenge. However, the possibility of releasing the film in China, where “Dangal” achieved about 64% of its global revenues, may change the equation, although no date or plan for showing it there has been confirmed.

An Indian and international team behind the massive production. Malhotra used his network of relationships to turn the project into reality. He chose Nitesh Tiwari, the director of “Dangal,” to write and direct the two parts, and attracted representatives from various Indian film industries. The production combined expertise from Hollywood and Bollywood, using composer Hans Zimmer and Indian musician AR Rahman to develop the soundtrack, while the visual effects were implemented by studio DNEG, benefiting from its experience in large-scale cinematic productions.

Malhotra believes that producing a film of this size requires resources, stars, a director, and music comparable to what is provided by the largest Hollywood productions, considering that Indian cinema will not be able to compete with it unless it invests at the same level. The first part was filmed mostly inside studios in Mumbai, relying heavily on visual effects to build the world of the epic, with its flying palaces, demon warriors, and a winged elephant.

One of the techniques used in the work was to employ artificial intelligence to help synchronize lip movements when dubbing the film from Hindi to English. Malhotra explains that the actors recorded the English dialogues in their real voices, without generating their voices using artificial intelligence, while motion capture techniques and artificial intelligence were used to adapt mouth movement and facial expressions to the new dialogues.

This operation was supervised by DNEG's subsidiary Brahma AI, which is valued at approximately $2 billion. Malhotra points out that preparing the English version took more than a year and required spending millions of dollars.

A Hindu religious epic for a global audience The filmmakers present “Ramayana” as a work capable of competing with global productions such as “Avatar” and “The Lord of the Rings,” but at the same time it is based on a religious epic that has a special place for millions of people. Tiwari says that dealing with a story linked to religious beliefs requires a great deal of caution, noting that his shared Hindu faith with Malhotra makes them aware of the sensitivity of presenting this story.

He explains that the scenario is based on the two most famous versions of the Ramayana, while benefiting from elements contained in other novels, stressing that its details are derived from the sacred texts. But turning the epic into a cinematic work does not guarantee success, as the action film "Adipurush" failed at the box office three years ago, amid popular criticism.

Therefore, the work is subject to wide scrutiny from the Indian public, with a special focus on the choice of Ranbir Kapoor to embody the character of Ram, who has a religious status among Hindus. Kapoor, who was known for his romantic and comedic roles before moving on to action films, says he initially hesitated before accepting the role, given the responsibility associated with portraying a character of this stature.

But he saw in the project a rare opportunity to present an epic of this size, and the cultural and historical value it holds. A bet on an audience beyond Bollywood The film comes at a time when cinemas are witnessing a wave of works inspired by ancient epics and myths.

Christopher Nolan's film "The Odyssey", adapted from Homer's epic, attracted audiences to cinemas this summer, while the Chinese animated film "Ni Zha 2", inspired by Chinese mythology, became the highest grossing film globally in 2025, having achieved $2.2 billion in China alone. The first part of "Ramayana" was released days before the Diwali festival, which is associated in Hindu beliefs with the return of Ram from exile.

The film makers hope that the work will benefit from the timing of its release, and will attract an audience from all over India, not just Hindi speakers. This ambition also faces a cultural challenge, as some critics argue that films based on nationalist or Hindu narratives may be read as North Indian-centric. Hence, the importance of presenting the film as an inclusive Indian work that transcends linguistic and cultural divides.

The biggest challenge for the film remains its ability to reach an audience outside India, and go beyond the scope of Indian communities abroad. “Ramayana” grossed more than $55 million globally during its opening weekend, including $12.2 million in the United States, according to Deadline.

Although these numbers do not make it a candidate to surpass the opening of “Dhurandhar: The Revenge,” which collected $115.3 million globally during its first week in March, they place it among the Indian works that are expected to perform at the box office. The film makers are betting that its appeal will exceed the usual audience for Indian works.