Ramayana has Rs 4,000 crore riding on it, but is there enough audience buzz?

There is a certain expectation when a film like Ramayana: Rise of Legend comes to the big screen. It is not just another big-ticket release, nor is it a story that needs an introduction. It is an epic that generations of Indians have grown up listening to, watching and holding close to their hearts. Add Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol, a reported budget of Rs 4,000 crore and the promise of a visual spectacle, and you have a film that should ideally have the country talking.But is it?With just four days to go before its November 5 release, Ramayana is showing encouraging numbers at the advance booking counters. Yet, there is a question around whether the excitement outside the ticketing platforms matches the scale of the film. The curiosity is there, the conversation is there, but is there enough urgency among audiences to book that first-day-first-show ticket?Ramayana advance booking for Day 1 so farAs of 11:20 am on November 1, Ramayana had grossed Rs 22.67 crore in opening-day advance bookings in India, including blocked seats. It had sold 5.04 lakh tickets across 12,719 shows in 1,408 cinemas spread across 412 cities. Excluding blocked seats, the collection stood at Rs 18.85 crore, with 4.11 lakh tickets sold. The film's overall advance booking across two show dates had reached Rs 33.15 crore, including blocked seats, reported the trade website Sacnilk. These are not small numbers. There is also an important caveat: bookings are still opening across theatres, and the film has room to add screens and shows. But for a film of this scale, the question is not whether the numbers are 'good', but whether they are 'good enough'.Ramayana vs Pushpa 2 vs Dhurandhar 2The comparison with recent blockbusters offers an interesting picture. When Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2: The Rule had four days left before its December 5, 2024 release, its opening-day advance booking had crossed Rs 30.88 crore in India. By December 4, it had crossed Rs 63 crore in opening-day pre-sales, with nearly 21.4 lakh tickets sold. Its worldwide advance booking had crossed Rs 100 crore. Ramayana is currently behind those numbers. The difference is not insignificant, especially when one considers that the film is being positioned as a cinematic event. Dhurandhar 2, too, demonstrated the kind of advance momentum a major franchise can generate. Its opening-day advance sales eventually reached Rs 38.77 crore, with more than seven lakh tickets sold, even before its release.Of course, these films belong to different genres, have different audiences and operate on different commercial expectations. Pushpa 2 had the advantage of a hugely successful first instalment and an established mass following. Dhurandhar 2 arrived with the momentum of a blockbuster predecessor. Ramayana has something neither film can claim in quite the same way: a story that has lived in Indian homes for centuries. The question, therefore, is: whether that familiarity is translating into the kind of theatrical urgency the makers would have hoped for?Does the buzz match the expectations?And there are signs that the interest is not evenly spread. Trade analyst Ramesh Bala believes the current buzz is in line with expectations for a film of this scale and budget. "The North has stronger traction, while the South presents a slightly lower, but promising picture," he says while speaking to India Today Digital. He believes Yash and Sai Pallavi's presence, the familiarity of the epic and strong regional dubbing could help generate interest. The promotional push, he adds, is also becoming more aggressive now.The numbers offer some support to this regional picture. Karnataka has contributed Rs 4.18 crore to the opening-day advance gross, while Maharashtra leads with Rs 4.39 crore. Delhi-NCR follows with Rs 3.46 crore. Hyderabad has recorded Rs 1.44 crore, with an occupancy of 38 per cent across its tracked shows. These are gross figures, including blocked seats.There is another interesting development. As per a report in Sacnilk, premium formats are doing considerably better than the overall advance booking might suggest. IMAX, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and other specialised formats have generated Rs 4.74 crore from just 360 shows, accounting for nearly 23 per cent of the tracked advance gross. IMAX 3D alone has contributed Rs 3.46 crore from 157 shows so far. This suggests that there is an audience willing to pay a premium to experience the film on the big screen where the tickets are priced at above Rs 3,000. It is important for the same interest to extend to regular 2D and 3D screenings as more shows open for a wider buzz.But the conversation outside the box office tells a slightly different story.Independent journalist Jaideep Pandey says he has not witnessed the kind of excitement that a film of this magnitude should generate. He recently returned from Kolkata after spending more than a week there during Durga Puja and interacting with entertainment journalists. Yet, he says, Ramayana was hardly a talking point."Personally, I'm not interested, nor do I think people are. In fact, more than Ramayana, I have seen people excited about series like Panchayat or Mirzapur. There is hardly any buzz that I can observe among people or even within our own journalist fraternity," he says.For Pandey, the biggest talking point seems to be the film's budget, and that too, largely on social media. He also believes that some audiences are still not entirely convinced about Ranbir Kapoor playing Lord Rama. The actor, known for films such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Animal, has to make audiences see him in a completely different light – and it is a challenge.The casting questionThe casting has been a subject of conversation ever since the film was announced. Ranbir as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana bring together three popular stars with very different screen identities. There is curiosity around the combination, but also scrutiny. Sai Pallavi's casting has attracted its share of online debate around conventional beauty standards, while Ranbir's suitability for the role has been questioned by some. Yash, on the other hand, comes with the enormous popularity of the KGF franchise. Whether audiences accept these actors as the characters they have grown up imagining is something the film will have to establish on screen.The comparisons with Adipurush have not helped either. The 2023 film, starring Prabhas and Kriti Sanon, arrived with considerable expectations but faced widespread criticism for its visual effects, dialogue and treatment of the epic. It eventually turned into a box-office disappointment. Ramayana is already being judged against that experience, even before audiences have watched it.Then there is the music debateThe music is another point of concern. With AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer associated with the project, expectations were naturally high. Yet, the songs and background music have not created the kind of pre-release recall that can bring audiences to theatres. Film enthusiast Jigyasa Sahay says she is not as excited as she expected to be. She draws a comparison with Brahmastra, another Ranbir Kapoor film rooted in mythology and fantasy."The music has been a big let-down, even if I want to give the VFX a chance on the big screen," she says. For her, Brahmastra created anticipation through songs such as Kesariya and Deva Deva, along with its visual appeal. "The music had created such a buzz even before the film could hit the screens. And the VFX and the colour... Oh my God! I still can see that flashing and taking over the screens in theatres. It was magic being unfolded."Sahay is not writing off Ramayana, though. She is willing to wait for audience reactions before booking her tickets. That sentiment may well represent a section of viewers who are curious but not yet convinced.Interestingly, the film received a more encouraging response from some viewers at its Los Angeles premiere on October 27. The screening at the David Geffen Theatre at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures was attended by Ranbir, Yash, Sai Pallavi, director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra. Some early reactions praised the performances, visuals and scale, with Ranbir being called sublime and Yash magnetic. The response has been glowing.Too much at stakeThe stakes are enormous. The reported Rs 4,000-crore figure is for both parts of the film, including associated production and promotional costs, and not just the first instalment. Producer Namit Malhotra has spoken about a combined budget of around $500 million. Yash has also clarified that the figure covers the two films and their release and promotional expenses. The first part releases on November 5, while the second is still awaiting its new release date.Trade analyst and film producer Girish Johar agrees that the pre-release buzz is slightly below what he had expected, particularly in the North. But he is not pressing the panic button just yet."For a film of this scale and size, a little more would have been comfortable. There is more room for improvement. We still have time," he says.Johar also feels that the music could have contributed more to the pre-release excitement. However, he points out that AR Rahman's music has traditionally grown on audiences after a film's release. He is confident that the festival period, the family appeal and the film's subject could work in its favour.He also makes an important point about the nature of advance bookings today. "A large part of a film's business comes from audiences walking into theatres and buying tickets closer to the show. A strong pre-sales figure is desirable, but it is not the only measure of a film's potential," he says.Ramayana is bigger than cinemaAnd this is where Ramayana has an opportunity that few other films enjoy. It is not selling an unfamiliar world or introducing audiences to a new character. Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Hanuman and Ravana are already part of India's collective imagination. The story has travelled through television, theatre, folk performances, religious gatherings and countless re-tellings. There is an emotional familiarity here that a film can tap into, provided it gets the storytelling right.For a large section of the audience, watching Ramayana is not simply about seeing their favourite stars or experiencing impressive VFX. It is about seeing a story they have grown up with being brought to life on a scale they have never experienced before. That is also why the expectations are so high. The film cannot rely on spectacle alone. It has to make people feel something.Johar believes the numbers can change quickly: "There are ample examples where films have taken off later. It can change in one day. It can change one or two days after release also."He also suspects that the real buzz and business for the film will only rise after the Diwali holiday - November 8 - because that's when the audience is actually free from the festivities and have time to invest in a three-hour-long film in theatres. He is right. There is still time for the bookings to pick up, for families to make plans and for the festive mood to bring people into theatres. But the real question is whether Ramayana can turn its enormous cultural familiarity into an equally enormous cinematic event.Because India does not need to be introduced to Ramayana. It already knows the story, remembers the characters and has its own idea of what they should look and feel like. What it is waiting to see is whether this film can give that familiar story a reason to be experienced all over again, together, on the big screen. And that is a much bigger test than simply making a film that looks grand.- Ends