Ticket sales for Nitesh Tiwari’s ambitious Ramayana adaptation began on Dussehra, 15 days before the film’s release in theatres ahead of Diwali. The long window, along with pre-release events in various parts of the country, are generating buzz for producer Namit Malhotra’s magnum opus. Ramayana Part One has shown solid pace in pre-sales, crossing one lakh ticket sales over 11 days before release. However, its pre-sales are not quite on the same level as Dhurandhar The Revenge from earlier this year, which should be a cause of concern for the makers.
Ramayana vs Dhurandhar 2 advance bookings
Dhurandhar The Revenge had one of the most unusual release strategies for an Indian film. The Aditya Dhar film hit the screens on March 19 with paid previews on March 18 evening. Advance booking for the paid previews began on March 7, nearly two weeks before the release, giving it a similar long pre-sales window like Ramayana. The Ranveer Singh-starrer started on a sensational note, selling almost 1.4 lakh tickets for the paid previews in 24 hours, including 90k in the major cinema chains alone. The full advance bookings for the film opened a week later, on March 14.
Ramayana has opened the advance bookings for its Hindi version 15 days before release. Negotiations with cinema chains means that the pre-sales for the Kannada version have not opened fully, while the Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam version also await clarity. In four days since the advance bookings have opened, Ramayana has sold around 1.36 lakh tickets, including 87K in major cinema chains. These are the same numbers that Dhurandhar 2 achieved in just a day. Ramayana got here in four days, a much slower pace.
Dhurandhar 2 minted ₹40 crore in paid previews alone and added ₹52 crore net in advance bookings for its opening day. The film had pre-sales of over ₹200 crore worldwide before release, a figure that Ramayana would want to emulate before it hits the screens on November 5 ahead of Diwali.
How Ramayana pre-sales are faring
Ramayana has already reached the ₹7.74 crore mark in advance bookings. The Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil versions have barely begun, contributing just ₹50 lakh to this figure. The Hindi version of Ramayana is showing occupancy of 15-20% in most major cities already, with almost 1000 screens open. In comparison, the Kannada version has opened in fewer than 100 screens so far and is still doing well, with some centres already reporting up to 72% occupancy for the morning shows.
All about Ramayana
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, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. The first part is scheduled for worldwide release on November 5, 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2027. The films will release in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam across India.
Sony Pictures will handle global distribution, excluding India, while Dharma Productions will distribute the film in the Hindi-speaking market. The film is also planned for a worldwide IMAX release.