Ramayana: Part 1 Review: Nitesh Tiwari Pulls Off the Impossible, and Yash's Ravana Is Apex
I'll be honest with you. When the lights went down at the press show yesterday, I wasn't excited. I was nervous.
Not about the cast. Not about the story. We all know this story. I was nervous about two things: the CGI, which everyone had been a bit dicey about since the first footage, and, far more, the dialogues. Because nothing kills a mythological film faster than lines that sound like a school play.
Three hours and fifteen minutes later, I walked out having watched an epic. Proper, capital-E epic. Let me tell you why.
Spoiler-light review. No ending details here. If you want those, our Ramayana ending explained has everything.
First things first: they fixed the monsters
Remember the chatter after the early glimpses? Plenty of people were dicey about how the creatures would look. Well, someone listened. The CGI in the final film is on point. The creatures and rakshasas now have weight, texture and menace.
This matters more than people think. DNEG, the VFX house behind the film, has won Oscars for building worlds in films like Dune and Interstellar. Worlds, yes. But creatures? That was the open question. Producer Namit Malhotra bet on his own company to crack mythological beings at this scale, and boy oh boy, they cracked it.
The ten heads. Arguing. With each other.
I need a whole section for this.
The ten heads of Ravana don't just appear. They argue with each other. Ten versions of one ego, fighting inside one king. It's the kind of idea that could have looked silly in less confident hands. Here it is genuinely unsettling, and the most memorable visual of the film. Crazy, crazy good.
The dialogues? Not cringe. Actually good.
This was my biggest fear, and it's the biggest relief. The dialogues, credited to Shreyas Jain and Nitesh Tiwari, are dignified without being stiff and modern without being casual. Nobody sounds like they're reading from a textbook, and nobody sounds like they're on Instagram. That balance is incredibly hard, and it holds for three hours.
Sharad Kelkar as the voice of Ravana: masterstroke
In the Hindi version, Yash's Ravana speaks with Sharad Kelkar's voice, and it is one of the smartest decisions in the whole production.
If you grew up on the Hindi Baahubali, you know that voice. Kelkar has made a career of giving Indian epics their gravitas, and here the impact is huge. Pair that voice with Yash's screen presence and you get a Ravana who feels ancient and dangerous every time he opens his mouth.
Yash is apex
Speaking of Yash: this is his Hindi film debut, and he plays Ravana like a man who has never once considered losing. The swagger, the intelligence, the scale. Rocky Bhai fans will come for him. Everyone else will leave scared of him. Apex. No notes.
Sai Pallavi is majestic
Sai Pallavi's Sita has a quiet strength to her, a grace that makes every scene she's in feel calmer and somehow more serious. Majestic is the only word.
Ranbir... you already know
I'll keep this short because he's my favourite and you'll accuse me of bias. But Ranbir Kapoor as Rama is restraint personified. He plays a man who is right and knows it, without ever making righteousness look smug. He killed it.
The scene I can't stop thinking about: Rama and Kaikeyi
If one sequence stays with you, it's the confrontation between Rama and Kaikeyi. Lara Dutta plays the stepmother riddled with guilt, and Ranbir plays the righteous son who will not waver. It's so emotionally charged, and so well performed by both. Her guilt is right there on her face, and his steadiness somehow makes it hurt even more.
It's still playing in my head. Easily some of the best work of Lara Dutta's career.
The music is ethereal
Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman together. On paper, that's a fantasy collaboration. On screen, the score is ethereal: huge when it needs to be, almost sacred when it pulls back. It never drowns the performances. It lifts them. We already loved the Mangal Rang wedding song. The background score is even better.
The pressure on Nitesh Tiwari
Here's the craziest part of all. Think about the weight on Nitesh Tiwari. A sacred story every Indian household knows by heart. A reported ₹4,000 crore across both parts, including marketing. The ghost of every mythological film that went wrong. A country waiting to judge.
And the Dangal director didn't flinch. He made a film that respects the faith, feels modern and still works as pure cinema. That's not a small achievement. That's a generational one.
And credit to Namit Malhotra for taking the risk in the first place. He talked about building a Ramayana universe. After this, I believe him.
A practical note
At 195 minutes, it's a commitment. Sort your snacks before the interval and go in knowing you're watching a big, unhurried epic, not a quick blockbuster.
My take
I went in scared of cringe. I came out blown away. Ramayana: Part 1 is the Indian epic we were promised, and the one we were honestly worried we'd never get. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find. This is what cinemas are for.
The film released in cinemas on 5 November 2026 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, with an English version for international audiences, and carries a U certificate.
Before you go, catch up on what everyone said after the first reactions and our original trailer reaction to Yash's Ravana.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ramayana: Part 1 worth watching?
Yes. The VFX has clearly been improved since the early footage, the dialogues avoid cringe, the score is outstanding and the performances, especially Yash, Sai Pallavi, Ranbir Kapoor and Lara Dutta, carry real emotional weight.
Who voices Ravana in the Hindi version?
In the Hindi version shown at the press screening, Yash's Ravana is voiced by Sharad Kelkar, the actor known for dubbing Prabhas in the Hindi versions of Baahubali.
Who composed the music for Ramayana?
Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Kumar Vishwas.
How long is Ramayana: Part 1?
It runs 195 minutes, about 3 hours and 15 minutes, and carries a U certificate.
Who made the VFX for Ramayana?
DNEG, the Oscar-winning visual effects company led by producer Namit Malhotra.
Vishal Waghela is the Co-Founder of AltBollywood and a proud neo-generalist who refuses to pick a lane. Film, music, memes, fashion, AI, internet subcultures: if pop culture touches it, he's already three rabbit holes deep. He writes the way he lives online, loud, emotional, a little chaotic and always honest about why culture makes us feel things. Come argue with him on Instagram at @vishal.waghe1a.
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