The first reactions to Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ are emerging, following the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The team hosted a grand premiere that saw leading stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash attending the red carpet premiere, along with director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra.Post the screening, which was reportedly held in both languages, an early reaction has been going viral online with a reviewer singing praise of the film, its story, sale and cliffhanger ending. In his initial, spoiler-free reaction, the reviewer praised the film, while comparing the experience to watching ‘The Lord of the Rings’ for the first time.Taking to his social media handle shortly after the screening, he posted a video saying, “I really don’t know how to even start this out of the theatre reaction. There is nothing out there in the cinematic universe like what I just watched. And people can take that in a good way or a negative way. There’s just nothing like it.”
‘Ramayana’ compared to ‘The Lord of the Rings’
Explaining what he had hoped to experience from the film, he said, “I wanted a great story, and I wanted, like, something that, like… told me something, and taught me something, and everyone keeps telling me that Ramayana is, you know, true history, and it’s the Indian culture, and it means a lot to them. I haven’t felt like this since, like, the very first time, in 2001, since, the first ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie. Like, this movie is very grand. It’s very epic.”
Ranbir Kapoor hailed for turn as Lord Rama
The reviewer also singled out the character of Rama, expressing surprise at the portrayal. “The character, Rama, I hope I’m not saying his name correctly, depends on the accent. It’s very different. I got to tell you that character. Wow.”
Yash impresses as Ravana
Meanwhile, another review hailed Yash for his villainous act as Ravana. He said, “Yash as Ravana is the biggest highlight and is superb, especially in his introduction portions. Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi are solid as Ram and Sita, though the divine aura and emotional weight don’t always fully translate on screen.”
Cliffhanger leaves viewer wanting more
One of the biggest talking points in the early reaction was the film’s ending. With the second instalment reportedly scheduled for release on Diwali 2027, the reviewer said, “I can’t give away spoilers, but the cliffhanger… when that movie ended, when the screen went black, I literally said, no, like, I shouted out loud, no.”
Hindi version confirmed to have longer runtime
The reviewer also highlighted the film’s runtime and explained why he chose to watch the original Hindi version rather than an English-dubbed cut. He said, “Listen, this is a big, weighty movie. It’s over 3 hours. I watched the original Hindi version. I didn’t had no interest in watching the English dubbed version that was cut by 30 minutes. I wanted to see the authentic movie. I wanted to see this movie.”Summing up his experience, he concluded, “I mean, I felt, I feel like, I know this is true story and true history. I felt like I just left a fairy tale. It’s the best way I can describe this film now…”
‘Ramayana’ gets mixed feedback
The post featured a rather mixed reaction, stating, “The ambition and scale deserve a lot of applause. Definitely watchable and better than a few recent adaptations, but it falls short of the massive expectations and ultimately feels like a mixed bag with so much more potential.”
