India’s most expensive film, Ramayana, has taken more than $100 million at the global box office amid hopes that the two-part epic will turn one of the country’s most revered stories into an international blockbuster.
Made on a reported budget of 40 billion Indian rupees (£420 million), the film retells the story of Prince Rama’s attempt to rescue his wife, Sita, from the demon king Ravana. It is based on the ancient Sanskrit epic regarded by Hindus as sacred scripture.
The first instalment, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, was released globally on November 5, followed by its US release a day later. It earned $55.7 million worldwide during its opening weekend, according to figures reported by Variety.
More than $67 million of the film’s total takings have come from India. It has also become the first Indian film to top the UK box office.
The film’s performance is being closely watched as a test of whether a story rooted in Indian religious tradition can connect with audiences beyond the country and its diaspora. Its creators have released dubbed versions and built the production around extensive visual effects in an effort to reach international viewers.
Can the Ramayana film travel beyond India?
Indian cinema has previously found large audiences overseas. Raj Kapoor’s Awara, released in 1951, was successful in the Soviet Union, eastern Europe, China, Turkey and north Africa, while films including Aan and Mother India also travelled widely.
During the 1980s, Disco Dancer and Mard were particularly popular in the Soviet Union and west Africa. Later, romantic dramas such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kal Ho Naa Ho found strong support among Indian communities overseas.
More recent successes have included Dangal, which took more than $190 million in China, and Secret Superstar, which earned $117.7 million there.
Tejaswini Ganti, a New York University professor specialising in Indian cinema, said Indian films had once reached international markets even where there were no established diasporic audiences.
Philip A Lutgendorf, a University of Iowa professor specialising in Indian language and culture, said Indian producers had been seeking an international crossover hit for many years. He described the release strategy for Ramayana as an attempt to draw on the popularity of epic science-fiction, fantasy and superhero films.
In the US, audiences can choose between the original Hindi-language version, which runs for three hours and 15 minutes, and an English-dubbed cut that is about half an hour shorter. Musical sequences and other scenes were removed from the dubbed version.
“It remains to be seen whether this strategy will succeed and whether the Hindu mythological archetypes of the story will resonate with a broad international audience,” Mr Lutgendorf said.
The film had its global premiere in Los Angeles on October 27. Critics praised its visual effects and performances but questioned its slow pacing, while its musical score divided opinion.
It currently holds a 77% critics’ score and a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Criticism over reported AI use
The production has also faced criticism over its reported use of artificial intelligence in localised versions of the film.
A promotional video said “Brahma AI” had been used to bring different language versions to the screen, with the film reportedly dubbed into nearly 40 languages.
Director Nitesh Tiwari said at the premiere that all dialogue and character voices had been recorded by human performers. He said the technology was used only to adjust lip-sync for versions released in other languages.
“As far as AI is concerned, it’s only been used to get the lip-sync so that we can present the film to the world in their language,” he said.
Some US critics remained unconvinced. One review described the film as “a majestic epic” undermined by “clunky action, eye-sore CGI, and awkward AI lip-syncing” and criticised it for ending as the first part of a larger story.
Producer Namit Malhotra said the intention had been to preserve the story’s legacy while creating a film for audiences worldwide. “For generations, the Ramayana has inspired people through its timeless humanity and enduring values,” he said. “Our ambition has always been to honor that legacy while creating a cinematic experience worthy of audiences everywhere.”
