The recently released trailer of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1 has created waves, be it positively or negatively. The film, produced on reportedly a massive budget of ₹4000 crore, is being marketed not just in India, but as a global project by the makers, and actor Kajal Aggarwal, who plays Mandodari in the film, understands and agrees with the global approach to the marketing.
Insisting on the global appeal of a story like Ramayana and placing India culture in the global centre, the actor says, “I really do believe that it’s high time. We want to tell our superhero stories, we want to talk about Lord Ram, Lakshman, Hanuman ji and all these wonderful characters that we’ve grown up reading, studying and learning about. This is in our blood, we live it in every breath and we love it.”
Kajal Aggarwal adds, “This is a great time for Indian cinema to have that sort of global appeal, and what better story than Lord Ram to do that. I feel this is just the perfect narrative to give of our country. He’s the Maryada Purushottam and there’s no one more heroic than him. And having Ranbir Kapoor play him is a great representation.”
Having been absent from Hindi cinema for a while, Kajal is happy about the influx of opportunities in Bollywood for her, as she recently had a release with The India Story and now has Ramayana up next. “I do feel that there suddenly has been an influx of opportunities and I’m extremely grateful for that,” she says.
Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Sunny Deol as Hanuman, along with an ensemble cast including Kajal, Lara Dutta, Arun Govil, Vivek Oberoi and others. Kajal is grateful to be associated to such a poignant story, and it hits personally too as Ramayana is her son’s favourite story too. Getting to show that story to him on screen is a privilege she is happy to get.
“It is satisfying for me as an actor to be associated with a magnanimous project like Ramayana. It’s a great learning experience because of the amazing star cast that I’m getting to work with and the makers are phenomenal. It’s a paramount project and the kind of scale that you get to witness when you’re on set, it’s a learning and once-in-a-lifetime kind of opportunity. I’m really grateful for that kind of work, and I’m hoping that this streak of luck continues,” she ends.