Arun Govil, who played King Dasharatha in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, certified Ranbir Kapoor as the ‘closest’ to play Lord Ram in the film. On the occasion of Ranbir Kapoor’s 44th birthday, the makers of Ramayana unveiled a BTS video featuring the lead actor, director and producer. In that video, Arun Govil says why he thinks Ranbir is the ‘closest’ to playing the role.
Talking about Ranbir Kapoor’s portrayal of Lord Ram, Arun said, ‘Whoever thought Ram would walk like this, sit like this, look like this and speak like this – I can see all these qualities in him.’ Normally you don’t expect a star to come and touch your feet, but he always does.
He added, ‘Of all the young stars available right now, Ranbir Kapoor is the closest to playing the role of Lord Ram.’
Sai Pallavi said in the video that she was ‘surprised’, finding an uncanny resemblance between her portrayal of Ram and Ranbir Kapoor. Ravi Dubey, who played the role of Laxman in the film, said that he found the quality of Lord Ram’s innocence in Ranbir.
Ever since the casting of Ramayana was revealed, Ranbir Kapoor has faced a lot of criticism for being cast as Lord Ram. A section of the internet attacked her past film choices, while another section slammed her for her eating habits.
Ramayana has been made on a huge budget of Rs 4,000 crore.
Speaking to Prakhar Gupta, producer Namit Malhotra revealed, ‘When we were about to make it six or seven years ago, people thought I was crazy because no Indian film comes close to this scale. In simple terms, the combined budget of the two components will be around $500 million, which is over Rs 4,000 crore.
He added, ‘We are making the world’s biggest film for a great epic that deserves to be seen globally. And yet, I believe we’re doing it more efficiently than the biggest Hollywood movies. We’re not being irresponsible – we’re being ambitious, but grounded.’
The film is set to be released in two parts, with the first installment set to release worldwide in October 2026 before Diwali, while the second part is slated for Diwali 2027.