RAMAYANA: RISE OF A LEGEND Review: Lavish but Lumpy Take on One of the Original Epics

A story is still worth telling even though it's old.

That's something that Christopher Nolan proved this year with The Odyssey. Simultaneously rooted in tradition and also forward-thinking in its portrayal of ancient, influential archetypes, its audience response was a great indicator that people still had an appetite for expensive, extravagant updates on tales as old as time.

Arguably, then, this is the perfect moment for a fresh take on Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic chronicling the adventures of Hindu god Vishnu's seventh avatar Rama, whose courageous exploits against savage tyrant Ravana encapsulate the vital tenets of Hinduism as a faith. Composed of 24,000 verses, its tremendous scope deserves the big-screen treatment with as much razzle-dazzle as possible, making perfect sense that its eventual arrival breaks the record for most expensive Indian (and also non-English language) film ever made.

Its first part, Rise of a Legend (helmed by Nitesh Tiwari), absolutely acts like it too, announcing its tremendous importance with a colossal 195 minute runtime, earnestly treating the material with equal admiration for its wisdom and its colorful spectacle.

So what does Tiwari manage to cover in the tale's first movement? We begin with the tortured origins of Ravana (Yash), the prodigal son of the rebellious Asuras whose bargain with creator deity Brahma grants him near-invincibility: only a human may slay him in battle, but who would dare when any supernatural being can't even draw blood?

His reign over the kingdom of Lanka upsets the cosmic and social balance, leading to the rival, peaceful land of Ayodhya being picked by great protector Vishnu to raise his next avatar. The favorite son of King Dasharatha (Arun Govil), Rama (Ranbir Kapoor), is the man for the job, whose skill with a bow is only equalled by his great purity and generosity, eventually winning him the heart of princess Sita (Sai Pallavi), laying the groundwork for a generational romance. Gradually, Rama's rising reputation puts fear in Ravana's heart, leading the brutal king to draw up a plot that will break Rama's spirit.

Episodic in its structure and immense in its sweep, there is nothing small about Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. Without any room for any downtime between its earthquaking battles and awesome divine interventions, the brush with which its leading men are painted uses two shades: black and white. Anyone hoping for a stroke of sympathy for Ravana and his underclass origins will be disappointed, as will anyone expecting Rama's intensely privileged and consistently beloved hero to be taken down a peg or two.

To be clear, this doesn't need to be a bad thing; a tale of good and evil can be compelling as just that, yet there's something a little disingenuous about something as lavishly presented as this, delivered at this punishing a length, where the hero and villain remain exactly as purely themselves from beginning to end.

Rama's mistakes are framed as charming, minor pitfalls of his absolute goodness; there's a moment where his arrival at a bowstringing challenge to win the hand of Sita seems to be another one of his great exploits, only for it to go comically wrong when his strength proves too much for the weapon's integrity. The film is then very eager to remind you that this is all part of the plan to show Rama's inherent brilliance, turning what is a surprising development against the grain and bringing it back to the status quo.

Meanwhile, Ravana's embittered rise to power and unwavering commitment to empowering his people is rendered entirely one-dimensional by the repeated damnation that his iron will is misdirected towards malice. As the duelling narrative strings keep looping over themselves, it's easy to tire of the text's well-meaning dogmatic tendencies that haven't been updated one hair for 2026.

While it may remain traditional on the page, there's of course budget for something new in the grand visual design. With so much flamboyant lore to draw upon, Tiwari does stage some wonders; winged and soft-haired elephant Airavata is spectacularly rendered in the film's bold, fast-paced prologue, and there's strange emotional heft behind the initially uncanny bird avatar of Vishnu, Jayatu (Anupam Kher). On the latter point, the film's high point is its climax, deep into the escalating drama and hurtling towards a cliffhanger ending where Jayatu and Ravana throw down on a giant flying clockwork lotus, and for all the magic and healing powers each is capable of, there is much-needed peril and consequence despite the heightened flights of fantasy.

The same unfortunately cannot be said for the demonic brawls Rama and brother Lakshmana (Ravi Dubey) find themselves in repeatedly throughout the film, which are so derivative of 2010-era turgid troll CGI (think Warcraft at best, Jack the Giant Slayer at worst) that it is a genuine wonder where the ₹2,000 crore budget went. When Ramayana is able to prove itself as a wondrous spectacle, it's enough to enliven the stale drama; when it falls foul of reminding you of some of the worst blockbusters of recent memory, it sadly joins their ranks.

As for its leading men, it's tough to parse how well they are doing with such flat characters. Ranbir Kapoor brings appropriate handsomeness, poise and kindness to Rama, i.e. absolutely fitting the bill for what is on the page, yet cannot transcend the flatness of what he is given. On the flipside, Yash's furious, ripped take on Ravana gives some malevolent energy to the picture, and the film comes alive when he's around, but once again struggles to break out of the schematic characterisation he's lumped with. It's then up to Ravi Dubey to bring out the little humour the film has as Rama's loyal but sardonic wingman, who thankfully leaves an impression amid the atonal noise of the lumbering action around him.

Last time the Ramayana story graced our screens, it was at a significantly lower cost and was received far worse than this as Adipurush, the great flop which knocked the career of Baahubali star Prabhas. Laughed off the multiplexes and dismissed as a misjudged take on a classic, there's clearly the concern that the new Ramayana would have done the same if so much money hadn't been thrown at it.

The result is a tremendously expensive, disappointingly safe update on a story the DNA of which can be found everywhere, and, therefore, there's not a lot more that Tiwari has to say. With a second part already in the mail and another mountain of cash to be spent on it, one can only hope there is a much-needed dose of complexity to make another three hour-plus endurance test even remotely bearable when Rama and Ravana return to the cinema.

The film is now playing in cinemas worldwide. Visit its official site for more information.