‘Ramayana: Part 1’ is one of the most anticipated films of the year. The makers recently released the first look of Rama featuring Ranbir Kapoor, at an event in Los Angeles and Mumbai. As the film became a topic of discussion online, director Nitesh Tiwari shared that its cinematic adaptation will present Ravana in a more layered and human light, rather than portraying him as a one-dimensional antagonist.
For those who don’t know, ‘KGF’ star Yash is all set to play the role of Ravan in the film. According to the director, Yash’s portrayal will not only highlight Ravana’s dark traits but will also highlight his virtues, such as his devotion to Lord Shiva, his musical prowess, and his qualities as an almighty ruler – while showing how ego and anger ultimately lead to his downfall.Speaking at the film’s teaser launch in Los Angeles, Nitesh told Collider: “Look, Ravana had many sides to his life.
He was a great warrior, a brilliant musician, a scholar, a benevolent king… and a great devotee of Shiva. There was a lot more to him than just being a black character.”He also revealed his motivation behind this addition, “…it is very important for us to showcase all these parts and aspects of Ravana because there is a very important lesson hidden in them. You can have all these great qualities, but if you are ruled by revenge and if you are driven by ego, then you know what the end result will be.
There’s a great lesson there.”At the same event, Ranbir Kapoor also spoke about Yash’s entry into the role of Ravana, praising his screen presence. “Yash, of course, has his star power. To play Ravana, you need someone who has that aura and screen presence. His interpretation of Ravana is very different from what we have seen over the years. I think this is something the audience will really enjoy watching on the big screen.”Interestingly, Yash is also supporting the project as a producer. Speaking about his involvement in April 2025, he told Variety: “It has been a long-term ambition of mine to make films that showcase Indian cinema on a global level. In pursuit of this, I was in Los Angeles to tie up with one of the best VFX studios, and to my surprise, the driving force behind it was an Indian colleague.”He also revealed how his collaboration with producer Namit Malhotra came together: “Namit (Malhotra, producer) and I had different ideation sessions and coincidentally, our synergy on the vision of Hindi cinema was completely compatible.
We brainstormed several projects, and during these discussions, the topic of ‘Ramayana’ came up. Namit had a part of it in the works.”‘Ramayana: Part 1’ features Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravan, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman apart from Ranbir as Lord Rama. The first part is scheduled to be released in theaters globally during Diwali 2026, with the second part expected to follow on Diwali 2027.
