Bollywood’s biggest epic of the year took its final bow before the public on Tuesday night, as Ramayana: Part 1 premiered in Mumbai to a red carpet full of stars — and to early reactions calling it a visual spectacle.
Key Points
- Ramayana: Part 1 held a star-studded Mumbai premiere on 3 November, ahead of its worldwide theatrical release on 5 November 2026.
- Ranbir Kapoor stars as Lord Ram, with Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman; Nitesh Tiwari directs.
- Alia Bhatt, Neetu Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Vivek Oberoi and director Tiwari with his family were among those at the screening.
- Advance bookings were reported at more than Rs1.15 billion globally; Part 2 is slated for Diwali 2027.
A premiere, not just a screening
The Mumbai event was the last stop on a global preview tour that began in Los Angeles on 27 October and passed through London on 1 November. The Mumbai screening, held at an IMAX venue in Lower Parel, was for cast, crew and invited industry guests — a distinction worth keeping, since the public release is 5 November, not 3 November.
The guest list told its own story about the film’s place in the industry. Alongside the cast were family members — Neetu Kapoor, Alia Bhatt — and senior figures such as Sunny Deol, whose presence underlined how widely the industry is watching a film reportedly mounted on a budget of Rs4,000 crore.
What the early reactions say
First reactions from the premiere described the film as a “new benchmark for Indian cinema” and a “visual spectacle”, according to the Free Press Journal’s round-up — the kind of praise that premieres reliably produce, and that audiences will test from Thursday. The film is a two-part adaptation of the ancient epic, produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, and will release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
The advance-booking figure, if confirmed by trade sources, would make it one of the largest Indian openings of the year. But premieres flatter, and the real verdict arrives with paying audiences and the Diwali weekend.
The film’s scale is part of its story. Two-part epics are rare in Indian cinema, and Ramayana’s reported budget, multi-language release and IMAX rollout all signal an ambition to play as a global event, not just a domestic one. That ambition is why the premiere drew such a wide industry crowd — and why Thursday’s audience verdict will be read far beyond Mumbai.
What happens next
Ramayana: Part 1 opens worldwide on 5 November, with a press show on 4 November. If it lands, Part 2 — due on Diwali 2027 — becomes one of the most anticipated sequels in Indian cinema. If it does not, the conversation will turn quickly to whether scale alone can carry an epic.
Sources
- Gulf News — https://gulfnews.com/amp/story/entertainment%2Fbollywood%2Framayana-premiere-alia-bhatt-sunny-deol-join-ranbir-kapoor-at-star-studded-mumbai-event-1.500735000
- Moneycontrol — https://www.moneycontrol.com/entertainment/ramayana-pre-release-screening-namit-malhotra-nitesh-tiwari-ravie-dubey-vivek-oberoi-sunny-deol-and-others-arrive-with-families-article-14068001.html/amp