Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana did not have the earth-shattering start at the box office that its makers had hoped for. However, the film still did great business, setting a new record for a pre-Diwali release in India. But the true test begins now, on its first Friday. It remains to be seen whether positive word of mouth will offset that drop, and by how much.
The film is likely to see a drop in collections on its second day before the Diwali weekend picks up the pace again.
Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is planned as a two-part film. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The first released worldwide on November 5, 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2028.
Ramayana began with houseful shows on day 1, netting ₹ 64.85 crore net in India on its opening day. By 2 PM on day 2, the film had earned ₹ 15 crore net in India, taking its two-day haul to almost ₹ 80 crore . The film should aim to cross the ₹ 100-crore barrier by the end of the day and hope for a strong weekend to bounce back and regain momentum. It earned just ₹ 7.50 crore on day 1 and has lacked pace on day 2 as well.
The figure was low given the film’s scale, but it was still the fourth-highest opening in Bollywood history. What is worrisome for the film is that its earnings have come largely on the back of some good performance by the Hindi version. Despite Yash ’s presence as Ravana, the Kannada version has started extremely slowly. Of the other versions, Telugu has fared well, while Malayalam and Tamil are just filling the ranks. The makers would hope that positive critical reviews and audience reactions will lead to increased footfall in the days to come.
On Friday, Ramayana began on a slower pace in the morning shows.
