Ramayana: Part 1 arrived in cinemas on 5 November 2026 and the first day numbers are already rewriting record books. Nitesh Tiwari’s epic opened to a live estimate of Rs 12.69 crore India net in the morning hours across 6,796 shows, on the back of the biggest advance booking Bollywood has seen in years. Here are the language-wise Day 1 numbers, the advance booking records, full cast, critic reviews and the confirmed OTT plan on JioHotstar.
Release Date and Launch Details
Ramayana: Part 1 had its world premiere on 27 October 2026 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, before opening worldwide on 5 November 2026 in the Diwali release window.
- Director: Nitesh Tiwari, who co-wrote the screenplay with Shridhar Raghavan
- Producers: Namit Malhotra and Yash, under Prime Focus Studios, Monster Mind Creations and DNEG
- Languages: Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu
- Runtime: 195 minutes in India, 208 minutes in overseas markets
- Music: Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman. This is Zimmer’s first score for an Indian film
- Story source: Valmiki’s Ramayana
The budget is the talking point. Reports put the combined cost of Part 1 and Part 2 at around Rs 4,000 crore including marketing, which would make it the most expensive Indian film ever mounted. The project was first announced in 2017 as a trilogy, was later restructured into two films, and finished principal photography between April 2024 and July 2025 at Film City, Mumbai. Part 2 is expected in 2027.
Full Cast
The film carries one of the largest ensembles ever assembled for an Indian production.
- Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama
- Yash as Ravana, in his Hindi film debut. He is also a co-producer
- Sai Pallavi as Sita
- Sunny Deol as Hanuman
- Ravi Dubey as Lakshmana, in his film debut
- Arun Govil as Dasharatha
- Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi and Indira Krishnan as Kaushalya
- Adinath Kothare as Bharata
- Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari and Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha
- Anupam Kher as the voice of Jatayu
- Vivek Oberoi as Vidyutjihva, Harish Uthaman as Vibhishana and Raghav Juyal as Meghanada
- Kunal Kapoor as Indra, Suhail Nayyar as Sugriva and Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara
Younger versions of Ravana, Sita and Shurpanakha are played by child artists Raghav Malhotra, Kiara Sadh and Dishita Sehgal respectively.
Story Summary
The film retells the opening movement of Valmiki’s Ramayana. It follows Prince Rama of Ayodhya, his years of training, his marriage to Sita, and the exile that takes him, Sita and Lakshmana into the forest. On the other side of the story stands Ravana of Lanka, whose rise the film tracks in parallel. Part 1 builds toward the conflict between the two without giving away how far it goes, since Part 2 will carry the war arc.
The international version of the film is titled Ramayana: Rise of a Legend and runs 13 minutes longer than the Indian cut.
What Critics Are Saying
Reviews landed on release day and the verdict leans strongly positive on craft and performances, with some critics noting that the narrative pace is heavy.
- Reel Perspectives (4.5/5): “A breathtaking epic that soars, led by Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, and Yash”
- DNA, Simran Singh (4.5/5): “Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Nitesh bring the most impactful, detailed, visually rich take on Indian epic”
- The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw (4/5): “India’s most expensive film ever becomes spectacular, huge-scale epic”
- Screen Rant, Brandon Zachary (7/10): “On a purely visual and technical level, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is an impressive cinematic achievement”
- IndieWire, Christian Zilko (B grade): “Nitesh Tiwari’s Bollywood blockbuster will never bore you, even if you occasionally find yourself yearning for some quiet character development”
Sacnilk’s review of reviews aggregator currently scores the film 90 out of 100 from Hindi and national critics and 80 from other publications. Audiences are rating it even higher, with a 9.8 out of 10 user score on Sacnilk at the time of writing. The praise across reviews clusters around performances, direction, VFX and music, and the film’s authenticity. Early word of mouth from previews was mixed on length, with some international write-ups calling the narrative exhausting even while they praised the visuals. Music composer and rapper Badshah called every frame “breathtaking” after a screening and said the film made him cry.
Box Office Collection
Numbers below are live estimates from the Sacnilk tracker as of 10:03 AM IST on 5 November 2026 and will move through the day as full occupancy reports come in.
- Day 1 India net (all languages): Rs 12.69 crore so far
- Day 1 India gross: Rs 14.97 crore so far
- Day 1 shows: 6,796 across five languages
Hindi is contributing about 72% of the Day 1 net so far, with the Kannada and Telugu versions adding a meaningful share despite far fewer shows. Because these are live morning estimates, the final Day 1 figure will be published by trackers like Sacnilk once all shows are counted, and the Day 2 trend will show how strong the family audience is over the weekend.
Language-wise Day 1 split:
- Hindi: Rs 9.16 crore from 5,519 shows
- Kannada: Rs 1.75 crore from 393 shows
- Telugu: Rs 1.18 crore from 508 shows
- Tamil: Rs 44 lakh from 244 shows
- Malayalam: Rs 16 lakh from 132 shows
Advance booking is where records fell. Day 1 advance closed at Rs 50.08 crore India gross including blocked seats, or Rs 42.96 crore excluding them, which Sacnilk reports is enough to push past Jawan into Bollywood’s all-time top 2 for advance sales. The film also crossed 4 lakh tickets on BookMyShow before release, ahead of the pace set by Animal and Tiger 3, and worldwide advance sales crossed Rs 150 crore gross. Trade analysts had projected a Day 1 net anywhere between Rs 50 crore and Rs 83 crore based on past trends, though morning collections on a working Thursday usually understate the final number. Day 2 advance booking stood at Rs 22.27 crore gross on the morning of 5 November.
OTT Release: Where to Watch
Reports covered by Sacnilk on 22 October say Ramayana has closed a digital and satellite rights deal worth Rs 450 crore, described as India’s biggest such deal, with JioHotstar planning a pay-per-view release for the film. That structure would mean subscribers pay extra to watch it rather than finding it in the regular catalogue.
The deal size fits with earlier reporting. In April 2026, News18 and Outlook reported that producer Namit Malhotra had turned down a Rs 700 crore OTT offer while holding out for a package closer to Rs 1,000 crore, and trade reports in May said the team was eyeing Rs 450 crore for Hindi theatrical distribution rights alone.
No OTT premiere date is announced. For a Diwali window release of this scale, an expected streaming window of late December 2026 or January 2027 is realistic. Treat that as expected, not confirmed.
FAQ
What is the Ramayana box office collection on Day 1?
As of 10:03 AM IST on 5 November 2026, Ramayana: Part 1 has collected an estimated Rs 12.69 crore India net across 6,796 shows, with Hindi contributing Rs 9.16 crore. Final Day 1 numbers will be higher once night shows are counted.
What is the Ramayana OTT release date and platform?
JioHotstar is the platform reported to be planning a pay-per-view release after a reported Rs 450 crore digital and satellite deal. The OTT date is not announced. The expected window is late December 2026 or January 2027.
Who plays Rama, Sita and Ravana in Ramayana: Part 1?
Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi plays Sita and Yash plays Ravana. Sunny Deol plays Hanuman, Ravi Dubey plays Lakshmana and Arun Govil plays Dasharatha.
Is Ramayana: Part 1 getting good reviews?
Yes. Critics have rated it between 3.5 and 4.5 out of 5, with the strongest praise for performances, VFX and the score by Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman. The common complaint is the film’s length at 195 minutes.
