Ranbir Kapoor in Ramayana: India’s costliest film retells a beloved Hindu epic – but divides critics

Other adaptations found their own ways to reimagine the epic. The 1992 Indo-Japanese animated film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama brought the tale to life through richly detailed, hand-drawn animation.

Tiwari’s Ramayana arrives with technological resources its predecessors could barely have imagined – but also with the expectations of generations who have grown up with the story and its characters.

It also comes at a politically charged moment in India, where Ram has become a powerful symbol of Hindu identity – over the past decade and a half, even popular analyses or retellings of the epic have landed in controversy.

The 2023 film Adipurush, another big-budget retelling of Ramayana, sparked backlash on several fronts.

Hindu groups called for a ban, accusing it of disrespecting religious figures, while some critics questioned its depiction of Ravana, which they said drew on Mughal imagery and reinforced stereotypes about Muslims. The film was also criticised for its dialogue and visual effects.

For the actors portraying these characters in the latest film, that burden was deeply felt.

“I was filled with fear,” Kapoor told the BBC Asian Network’s Haroon Rashid. “I knew that maybe I’m too old for this. I won’t be able to do justice to it.”

He called the role “an opportunity of a lifetime”, but said playing a figure worshipped by millions left little room for the creative freedom he had enjoyed in other films.

Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita, said the experience was as much spiritual as artistic. Raised in a religious household, she said she approached the part not just as a performance, but as an opportunity for personal growth.

How the film is being received will become clearer soon, as audiences head to cinemas.

But whatever the verdict, it marks a major cultural moment for India, bringing a story loved for generations to the big screen on an unprecedented scale.