The reaction to the Ramayana teaser has been mixed in India, with fans praising Ranbir Kapoor’s look as Lord Rama but criticising the visuals and CGI. However, internationally, the film has fared better with Western audiences describing the film’s visuals as stunning and praising its scope and ambition. There is a fair amount of criticism for the film’s technical aspects in the West as well, but by and large, the reaction has been encouraging for the Nitesh Tiwari film.
Western audiences lap up Ramayana
The teaser of Ramayana, called the ‘Rama glimpse’, was unveiled by the makers on Thursday morning. It features visuals of Ranbir as Lord Rama, grand glimpses of Ayodhya and Ashok Vatika, as well as a tease at Ravana’s Pushpak Vimana and Lanka amid scenes of battle.’
The teaser was shared by international outlets like Rotten Tomatoes as well as American social media accounts related to cinema. “The absolutely staggering visuals of the groundbreaking upcoming epic RAMAYANA: Part 1,” wrote Cinema Encyclopedia. The post drew many positive comments from followers. One wrote, “Watched at 0.5x at 1440p and the detailings (where the general audience won’t even care to notice) are insane.” Another added, “The visuals are really insane!”
On Instagram, one comment called the visuals ‘stunning’, while the response to it stated, “Tbh way better than I expected. Looks grand and well-made, money put in the right place sort of stuff. Let’s hold our opinions till we watch the film.”
One cinephile said the film would make Metal Gear-fame video game designer Hideo Kojima proud. “This is something Kojima would be praising to his followers, and they will all see it,” read the comment.
Some criticism too
However, there was some criticism too, with a lot of comments complaining that despite the detailed visuals, everything looked oversaturated and too polished. “Even though the detailing is very fine, the Visuals look quite AI / Video-game style, Miss the cinematic depth old movies used to present these days,” complained one social media user. Another hoped, “Overall looks good. They can work on feedback for the next 7 months. My hopes are still alive.” Others were harsher still in their feedback. “We got Indian Avengers on PS4 before GTA 6,” joked one. Many others said the visual style looked very video game-like even if the visuals themselves were detailed.
All about Ramayana
Ramayana is a two-part film mounted on a massive budget of ₹4000 crore, making it the most expensive Indian film ever made, and one of the costliest film productions worldwide. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman, and Ravie Dubey as Lakhsman. The Rama glimpse focused only on Lord Rama but also gave fleeting glimpses at other characters, including Lakshman and Sita. The teaser also showed Yash’s Ravana getting out his fabled flying machine, Pushpak Vimana, at the end.
Ramayana Part One is slated to release in theatres in October 2026, with the second part arriving in 2027.
