Sandeep Reddy Vanga has shared his first reaction to Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, and his words for producer Namit Malhotra are the ones getting the most attention. The Animal director posted on X after watching the film, praising not just the scale of the epic but the years of work Malhotra put into bringing it to the screen. The film opened in theatres worldwide on November 5, 2026, and the early response from the industry has been loud.
Vanga’s post arrived alongside reviews from SS Rajamouli and Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, all three sharing their thoughts within hours of the film’s first shows. The praise for Malhotra stands out because the producer has been attached to Ramayana for years, through budget questions and release date changes, and Vanga made a point of saying he has not seen that kind of commitment before.
What Sandeep Reddy Vanga Said About Ramayana
Vanga kept his review short and direct on X. He asked viewers to experience what he called the “magnitude” of Ram and Raavana on the big screen, and he singled out Ranbir Kapoor and Yash for their performances.
“Want to experience the MAGNITUDE of RAM & RAAVANA? PLEASE go watch R A M A Y A N A. RANBIR & YASH — both nailed it bone-deep. Made their presence absolutely commanding. I LOVED IT.”
Then came the line aimed at the producer.
“I have never known a producer to be this committed @malhotra_namit.”
The post tagged Malhotra directly, and the phrasing suggests Vanga was speaking about more than just the film’s budget or marketing. Malhotra has been the driving force behind Ramayana for years, and Vanga’s comment points to that long production window rather than a single release moment.
Who Is Namit Malhotra, The Producer Behind Ramayana
Namit Malhotra is the founder of Prime Focus, the company he started in a Mumbai garage before merging it with his father’s equipment rental business in 1997. Prime Focus later merged with the UK-based visual effects giant Double Negative (DNEG) in 2014, and DNEG has since won multiple Academy Awards for Visual Effects, including work on films like Interstellar, Tenet, and Dune: Part Two.
That VFX background matters for Ramayana. The film is produced by Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in association with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, and the visual scale of the project has been a central talking point since the first footage arrived.
Malhotra has also spoken openly about the financial risk behind the film. He revealed that he lost 90% of his wealth in 2008 at age 19, and he called the Ramayana premiere in Los Angeles his “Oscar moment.” That personal history gives Vanga’s “most committed producer” line a clearer meaning: this is not a producer who signed on late or stayed at arm’s length.
Ramayana Release Details: Where And How To Watch
Ramayana: Part 1 released in theatres worldwide on November 5, 2026. The film arrived in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, across premium formats including IMAX. An English version was also prepared for international audiences, with Malhotra confirming that the team made two master versions of the film with different runtimes.
The timing placed the release just ahead of Diwali, and the film opened across approximately 25,200 shows in India on day one. Advance bookings had opened on Dussehra, giving the film a running start before the festival window.
For global viewers outside India, the film’s international rollout followed the same November 5 window, with the English version aimed at audiences who do not watch Indian language films in their original form. The Los Angeles premiere took place on October 27, 2026, at the David Geffen Theater, ahead of the worldwide release.
The Cast And The Scale Of The Film
Ramayana brings together a large ensemble. Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi plays Sita, and Yash plays Ravana. Sunny Deol appears as Hanuman, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, Arun Govil as King Dasharatha, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, and Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari. The supporting cast also includes Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, and Adinath Kothare.
The music comes from A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer, a pairing that Ricky Kej described as a “magical combination” in his own review of the film.
The budget for the two-part project is ₹4,000 crore, a figure that covers both films, including post-production and promotional costs. Yash clarified this at the trailer launch in Bengaluru on October 15, explaining that the number is often misunderstood as the cost of Part 1 alone.
“Ramayana is a two-part project, and the budget for both the movies combined is definitely ₹4,000 crore. The budget includes post-production and promotional expenses as well.”
Opening Day Box Office Numbers
Ramayana collected ₹64.85 crore net in India on its opening day, with a domestic gross of ₹77.50 crore across all languages. The worldwide gross on day one stood at ₹127.50 crore. The Hindi version contributed the largest share of the domestic total.
The opening ranked as the second-biggest Bollywood opening of 2026 so far, behind Dhurandhar: The Revenge. It also placed among the biggest Indian openers of all time, though it stayed below the opening day numbers of Adipurush, which had collected ₹86.75 crore net on its first day.
Other Industry Reactions: Rajamouli, Ricky Kej And More
Vanga was not the only filmmaker to share a review on opening day. SS Rajamouli posted a detailed reaction on X, praising the film’s scale and the performances at its centre.
“#Ramayana… the sheer scale of the film and the visuals on the big screen are spectacular to watch. Ranbir as Rama, especially from the Vanavasam onwards, is serene yet magnificent. Yash brings a menacing presence as Ravana, while Sai Pallavi is graceful as Sita. The pre-climax and climax… loved every bit of it.”
Ricky Kej, a three-time Grammy winner, wrote that he went into the film expecting to analyse its technical craft but found himself pulled into the story within four minutes. He watched the first-day, first-show screening in Bengaluru in IMAX 3D and called the film “one of the greatest achievements in Indian cinema history.” He also praised the film’s restraint, noting that it avoids the kind of over-the-top dialogue and action that can weigh down big-budget Indian productions.
The reactions from Vanga, Rajamouli, and Kej all landed on November 5 and 6, giving the film a strong word-of-mouth push in its first 48 hours. Their posts focused on the same elements: the scale, the lead performances, and the work behind the camera.
What Namit Malhotra Has Said About The Sequel And A Possible Third Film
Ramayana was originally planned as a trilogy before the makers decided to tell the story across two films. Malhotra has confirmed that Part 2 will now release during Diwali 2028, moving from its earlier 2027 target. The decision, he said, was about giving the finale the same attention as the first film.
“That extra year is what I genuinely believe we need to do justice for a film of this size. When you see part 2 coming in, that will be a whole other story. We didn’t want to do a rush job or get ahead of ourselves. We want to deliver the finale in the most grand way that it deserves.”
Malhotra has also left the door open for a third film, depending on how audiences respond to Part 1. The team currently has two versions of the first film with different runtimes, and feedback from different markets will shape how they handle the next instalment.
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The sequel shift also means Ramayana: Part 2 will no longer clash with Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit, starring Prabhas, which is slated for a Diwali 2027 release. That scheduling change clears one of the bigger box-office collisions that had been building for 2027.
For more entertainment news, box-office updates, and release details, keep reading VvipTimes.
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