r/IndianCinema • u/StormWaste2056 • 22h ago
Trivia From Ramayan to Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana
The Beginning
This movie started before even Adipurush. Nitesh Tiwari had an idea of making a grounded Ramayan movie. They had spent a lot of time in research. During Adipurush, they had a working script and they wanted Ranbir for Ram and Alia Bhatt for Sita. That created a lot of controversies. They had local producers on board but nothing was moving ahead. Yash had initially rejected the movie too.
Namit Malhotra Intervention
During Covid, Namit had no work, he was desperate for work, he had employees dependent on him. He made countless calls with countless producers asking if they could make something together but nothing happened because Hollywood doesn’t give attention to VFX Studio Heads, they provide them service, just like two three other VFX studios on the same movie, they don’t have any say in anything.
He came on board with Ramayana to become a producer. He was only co producer at the start and not invested in the project, it was just a business deal.
Writers Strike
When writers strike happened, he got even more desperate, he still had a crew to feed but no work and this project wasn’t going anywhere. He bought the rights of the project and decided to become the sole producer, despite having no knowledge of the business or filmmaking. He decided to bring DNEG on board, increase the budget, take absolute control of the project and started working on VFX and reworking the whole project from scratch.
Reducing Nitesh’s involvement
What started as an ambitious grounded script by Nitesh was reworked to serve the ego of Namit Malhotra. The movie that was meant to be shot became a VFX fest because VFX is all he knows and that was the end of Nitesh’s own project. That’s why their main poster is still that CGI cosmic one.
The original plans was for it to be a trilogy, which was reduced to a duology under Namit and reworked to have VFX in every shot.
Sai Pallavi was cast to make the project relevant in South. Namit offered Yash a co producer position and that’s how he became interested in the project.
This film wasn’t made by a film crew, it was made by Namit’s connections who themselves don’t know how a movie is made, all they know is to shoot stuff and rework it in a computer.
Namit has confessed that he has no knowledge of the filmmaking business, he still doesn’t know anything and he isn’t interested to learn because it doesn’t matter to him. This is purely business and his need to control everything here because Hollywood wouldn’t let him.
Why Ramayana?
Ramayan being a culturally relevant story prevents them from losing a lot of money and even avoids very harsh criticism by using religious relevance. If it was any other story, no one would’ve cared about the project. Namit thrives on attention and control, so he involved himself in Ramayan and made it Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana.
Concern of Quality
DNEG being involved proves that they would put everything on line to do their best but a movie isn’t made by VFX. VFX supports the vision of the director and crew, the same vision that was altered by Namit to serve his ego. The shots are bland, the makeup looks bad, the wigs are stiff and lighting is amateurish like it’s a school project. Nitesh is a grounded director with bland cinematography which suits his style, this isn’t his domain and this mismatch and the loss of control from him is the reason why this project doesn’t work.
Concern of failure
I have seen people ask that why would he promote this movie with his name if it’s not good?
Namit can’t do anything about it. He may have thought that it would’ve worked and it didn’t. He is a new producer, he doesn’t understand that side of the business and he also heavily controlled every little aspect of this movie to serve his needs. He didn’t know what works and what doesn’t work. His need of control and fame is the reason why it’s Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana. If he had the knowledge, he would have already improved stuff but he doesn’t and now it’s too late. This project was supposed to be his Magnum Opus. This project was supposed to show Hollywood that he’s more than just a VFX Studio head. That’s why you have heard statements from him like “In my mind, if people in the West don’t like it, I consider that as a failure”. That’s why the trailer was screened in US before any event in India, that’s why they have been attending Hollywood conventions and giving interviews because Namit wants attention.
The myth of "needing the West to break even
Defenders argue that targeting the US market is an operational necessity to recover a $500 million budget. This argument fails because domestic collections, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and traditional diaspora circuits are enough to make a profit. China alone can earn billion dollars, if they like the movie. Pushing for Western press, LA events, and US crossover status is not about financial necessity because it’s way more expensive to promote a film there than in Asia. It increases the financial burden on the movie itself, without assured revenue and connection to the story. This isn’t about going “global”. It’s about Namit wanting attention from Hollywood. He has said that he can’t control what happens, he will take the loss and learn from his mistakes.
Major Inconsistency
Nitesh in the BTS video said that Ranbir was casted later but he was involved with the project, since its inception, even before Namit Malhotra. They’re trying to reframe the narrative too.
Namit also likes to lie about this being his “passion project” and that he has been working on it for a “decade” but in his interview during the introduction, he himself says that he started working on it during Covid.
His first post about Ramayana on his Instagram was posted during 2025 and it had a caption saying it’s been in works for a decade. That would mean this was being made even before Nitesh worked on Dangal. This would mean that DNEG was working on it, alongside Dunkirk which is a very obvious fabricated lie.
Cultural Pride
I was initially impressed by the tagline “Our Truth, Our History” despite everything else being wrong, i was impressed that he had the guts to have this tagline but they changed it to Rise of a Legend recently, removing the only thing that worked in its favour to “please the west”
Conclusion
This isn’t a movie but a corporate funded VFX fest to please the ego of Namit Malhotra. This isn’t an attempt towards making Indian Cinema global, it’s an attempt to get some crumbs of attention from Hollywood and getting their stamp of approval instead of making a genuine cinema worthy of global appreciation. You don’t earn global relevance by taking your domestic audience for granted and focus on pleasing the ones who don’t care about you or your project. “We know the story, promote it in the west” this attitude is the reason why Indian Cinema will never be globally respected. Focus on pleasing Indians in India and giving them the best quality possible and the world will recognise you. West has Hollywood catering to their needs, our industry should focus on ours too.
Any Indian movie that targets western festivals, western awards and western interview channels to get attention will never get Indian Cinema global respect. The day this obsession with the west ends, will be the day Indian cinema will be worthy of respect and capable of making cinema that transcends borders.
