The century mark stayed out of reach.
Nitesh Tiwari's sprawling retelling Ramayana netted ₹64.85 crore across India on its November 5 release, stumbling well beneath the dizzying ₹100 crore launch that trade desks had penciled in. The worldwide gross climbed to ₹127.50 crore after overseas markets injected ₹50 crore on opening day. Yet for an epic saddled with an eye-watering ₹4,000 crore budget, an opening day that merely edges Ranbir Kapoor's previous vehicle—2023's Animal, which cleared ₹63.80 crore—leaves the production staring down a steep mountain of capital to recoup.
Hindi circuits carried the enterprise, generating ₹47.50 crore across the country. But regional language versions revealed an uphill battle in the south despite heavy show allocations. Kannada screenings, bolstered by Yash's stature as co-producer and antagonist, brought in ₹7.25 crore across 1,197 shows. Telugu prints delivered ₹6.00 crore from 1,776 shows, while Tamil and Malayalam runs scraped together just ₹2.60 crore and ₹1.50 crore respectively.
| Circuit / Language | Day 1 Net Collection | Shows Tracked |
|---|---|---|
| Hindi | ₹47.50 crore | N/A |
| Kannada | ₹7.25 crore | 1,197 |
| Telugu | ₹6.00 crore | 1,776 |
| Tamil | ₹2.60 crore | 992 |
| Malayalam | ₹1.50 crore | 557 |
| All-India Net Total | ₹64.85 crore | 25,200 |
On screen, the craft demands immediate attention. Flying elephants, galloping rhinos, and chariot-towing felines pack the visual canvas, throwing visual effects at the screen with unchecked abandon. But the drama underneath stumbles into inert territory. Kapoor strips away his familiar swagger to inhabit Rama with disciplined, deliberate quiet, delivering a focused physical performance even when the script denies him emotional variety. Yash counterbalances him with thunderous heft, throwing his frame into Ravana with raw, menacing physical presence. Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol, Ravi Dubey, and Lara Dutta round out the ensemble, though Tiwari's pacing leaves little room for anyone to breathe between set pieces.
Domestically, the launch surpassed Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, which posted ₹57 crore on Day 1, but trailed Jawan's all-time benchmark of ₹75 crore. With gross domestic ticket receipts standing at ₹77.50 crore, theater owners are watching the Diwali holiday corridor closely. Without immediate double-digit weekend leaps across non-Hindi territories, this costly roll of the dice faces a gruelling theatrical run.