Ramayana (2026): Release Date, Cast, Budget & Everything We Know

Ramayana: Part 1 is the biggest Indian film of 2026 – Nitesh Tiwari's two-part retelling of the epic, with Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. After months of shifting reports, the makers have now locked the date: 5 November 2026, three days before Diwali. Here is everything we know so far – what is officially confirmed, and what is only reported.

Ramayana: quick facts

• Release date: 5 November 2026, worldwide, in cinemas (confirmed)
• Director: Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal)
• Producers: Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios and DNEG, with Yash's Monster Mind Creations
• Lead cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol, Ravie Dubey
• Music: A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer – their first film together
• VFX: DNEG
• Languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam (the trailer launched in all five)
• Formats: shot for IMAX; releasing in premium formats
• Part 2: planned for Diwali 2027
• Budget: not officially disclosed – see below

Release date: 5 November, not Diwali day

Confirmed: On 11 October 2026 – the first day of Navratri – the makers announced that Part 1 opens worldwide on Thursday, 5 November 2026, along with a new ensemble poster. Advance booking opens on Dussehra.

For most of the year the date kept moving in reports. Earlier coverage spoke of Diwali day (8 November), then of 6 November after an international trailer listed that date, and at one point of a possible move to late October. The official word now settles it: 5 November, which gives the film a long run through Dhanteras, Diwali and Bhai Dooj. Some overseas markets may still open a day later, on Friday, as is common for international distribution.

Cast: who plays whom

Confirmed through the trailer and official material:

• Ranbir Kapoor as Ram – and also as Parashurama. Ranbir himself confirmed the double role after the April teaser, explaining that both are avatars of Vishnu and that he changed his voice and body language for each.
• Sai Pallavi as Sita
• Yash as Ravana
• Sunny Deol as Hanuman
• Ravie Dubey as Lakshman
• Arun Govil as Dashrath – a lovely touch, since he played Ram in the 1987 TV Ramayan
• Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi
• Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari
• Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha
• Vivek Oberoi as Vidyutjihva, Shurpanakha's husband
• Kunal Kapoor as Indra

Yash has said he shares no scenes with Ranbir in Part 1 – "we both have our own kingdoms" was the gist. Nitesh Tiwari has also said the first film ends on a cliffhanger, so the big Ram–Ravana face-off is saved for Part 2.

Budget: what's reported

Reported, not official: the figure you will see everywhere is about ₹4,000 crore. That number is for the whole two-part project, and it has been attributed to producer Namit Malhotra. Estimates for Part 1 alone are much lower – one widely quoted industry estimate puts it around ₹835 crore. The makers have not published an official breakdown, so treat every budget number as an estimate. Either way, it is among the most expensive productions ever attempted in India.

Music, VFX and scale

Confirmed: the background score is a collaboration between A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer, the composer behind Dune and Interstellar. Their theme was first heard in the July 2025 first-look video and again in the teaser and trailer.

Visual effects are by DNEG, the Oscar-winning studio owned by producer Namit Malhotra's company. Both films were shot for IMAX. Promotional material has spoken of thousands of VFX shots, but exact numbers are not officially confirmed.

Runtime (reported): Ranbir has said the two films together run about six hours. An official runtime for Part 1 has not been announced yet.

Teaser and trailer reaction

The teaser arrived on 2 April 2026, and reactions were mixed – many viewers felt some of the creature effects looked unfinished. The full trailer, around four minutes long, dropped on 30 July 2026 in five languages and landed much better. Yash's Ravana was the big talking point, the redesigned demons drew praise, and opinion split on Ranbir's calm, restrained Ram. Fans also noticed that Sunny Deol's Hanuman does not appear in the trailer at all.

Part 2: what's planned

Confirmed plan: the story is split across two films, with Part 2 slated for Diwali 2027. Ranbir said in April that his own shooting for Part 2 was already about half done. Expect Part 2 to cover the war in Lanka – and much more of Hanuman.

Ramayana on screen before

The epic has been told on Indian screens many times. A few versions everyone remembers:

• Ramayan (1987, Doordarshan) – Ramanand Sagar's TV serial with Arun Govil as Ram, Dipika Chikhlia as Sita and Arvind Trivedi as Ravana. Streets famously emptied on Sunday mornings when it aired, and its 2020 lockdown re-run drew huge audiences all over again.
• Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1993) – the Indo-Japanese animated film, a childhood favourite for many, which returned to Indian cinemas in early 2025.
• Adipurush (2023) – Om Raut's big-budget version with Prabhas and Kriti Sanon. It opened big but was heavily criticised for its dialogue and VFX – a big reason why expectations for Nitesh Tiwari's film are so high, and why fans watch every frame of its trailers so closely.

Tiwari's version aims to be the definitive big-screen telling – a faithful story on a scale Indian cinema has not tried before.

While you wait

Ramayana is still a few weeks away. Here are epic, historical and big-scale films you can watch on NoWireTV right now:

• Chhaava – Vicky Kaushal as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in a powerful historical drama.
• Bāhubali: The Epic – S.S. Rajamouli's two-part saga re-cut as one grand film. The closest thing to a mythology-scale spectacle.
• Padmaavat – Sanjay Leela Bhansali's lavish period epic.
• K.G.F: Chapter 1 – see why Yash was the right choice for a larger-than-life Ravana.
• Dangal – Nitesh Tiwari's biggest hit, and proof he can handle emotion on a big canvas.

Prefer live TV? Big Hindi films play round the clock on Star Gold HD, Sony Max HD and the rest of our live movie channels.

Read next

• Diwali 2026 movies: every big film in cinemas and on OTT
• Upcoming Bollywood movies in October–November 2026

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▶ Watch Chhaava online while you wait