The latest international trailer for Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part One places the legendary conflict between Lord Rama, played by Ranbir Kapoor, and Ravana, portrayed by Yash, at the centre of its cinematic retelling of the ancient Indian epic. One of the trailer’s most striking sequences shows Ravana confronting Lord Indra, played by Kunal Kapoor, and overpowering the deity in battle. The footage arrives as the film reportedly crosses $100,000 in US advance sales ahead of its scheduled worldwide theatrical release on November 5, 2026.
Retelling a story that has travelled across generations presents a challenge beyond recreating familiar events. The characters, their motivations and the moral conflict at the heart of the epic must also resonate with contemporary audiences. The new trailer offers a glimpse of how the filmmakers are approaching that challenge, with large-scale confrontations set against the enduring struggle between dharma and adharma.
One of the footage’s most memorable moments features Yash’s Ravana attacking Lord Indra, who rides Airavata, his celestial elephant. The confrontation ends with Indra being brought crashing to the ground, establishing Ravana as a formidable force whose ambitions extend beyond his own kingdom.
The sequence places Ravana’s power and ambition in the foreground while reinforcing the scale of the conflict that drives the story. Rama and Ravana are more than opposing warriors; their confrontation represents the deeper struggle between dharma and adharma, a central theme of the Ramayana. The trailer offers a glimpse of the battles ahead while keeping this moral conflict at the heart of the film’s narrative.
The ensemble also features Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. Each character plays a significant role in the epic’s emotional journey, from the relationship between Rama and Sita to Lakshman’s loyalty and Hanuman’s devotion. Their presence gives the adaptation an opportunity to balance its large-scale spectacle with the personal relationships that have helped sustain the story across generations.
Ramayana is planned as a two-part cinematic undertaking, allowing the filmmakers to explore the epic across a broader narrative. The scale of the project extends to its music, with Academy Award-winning composers Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman collaborating on the score. Their partnership brings together two distinct musical backgrounds for a story deeply rooted in Indian culture.
Music will help establish the film’s atmosphere, from quieter emotional passages to encounters involving kings, warriors and divine beings. The collaboration also adds an international dimension to the production while keeping its central story grounded in Indian mythology.
The film’s visual effects are being developed by DNEG and Prime Focus Studios, with producer Namit Malhotra leading the project. DNEG, an eight-time Academy Award-winning visual-effects company, has worked on major international productions and brings extensive experience in creating elaborate cinematic worlds.
For Ramayana: Part One, the visual-effects work involves bringing ancient kingdoms, celestial settings and large-scale confrontations to the screen. Reported budget estimates for the production range from ₹1,000 crore to ₹4,000 crore, although the figures vary across reports and the exact budget has not been confirmed. The planned IMAX presentation further reflects the filmmakers’ ambition to deliver an expansive theatrical experience.
Meanwhile, the reported crossing of $100,000 in US advance sales offers an early indication of overseas interest in the film. Advance bookings can provide a useful measure of pre-release demand, but they do not determine a film’s eventual box-office performance. Claims that the film is outselling competing Indian releases by specific multiples would also require comparable, independently verified figures.
With Ranbir Kapoor as Rama and Yash as Ravana, Ramayana: Part One places its central conflict at the heart of an ambitious theatrical adaptation. Its ensemble cast, international musical collaboration and extensive visual-effects work underline the production’s scale, while the enduring story remains its foundation.
As the November 5, 2026 release approaches, the latest trailer offers a glimpse of a familiar epic being presented to a new generation of cinema audiences. The film’s challenge will be to bring its characters, their choices and the enduring struggle between dharma and adharma to life on screen.
Watch Ramayana Trailer:
