Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, headlined by Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi, released worldwide on 5 November 2026, ahead of Diwali, and opened to a first day that was at once impressive in its scale and short of the highest expectations that had been placed upon it. On Day 1 it earned Rs 64.85 crore net in India across 25,200 shows, with India gross of Rs 77.50 crore. Its worldwide gross collection stands at Rs 127.50 crore, including Rs 50 crore from overseas.
The figures, per trade tracker Sacnilk, place the film among the biggest opening days in Indian cinema, while also leaving it below the Rs 100 crore opening that trade experts had predicted, with some expecting between Rs 100 crore and Rs 150 crore.
The scale of the release is evident in the number of shows and in the number of tickets sold. About 25.26 lakh tickets were sold on Day 1, a figure that speaks to the breadth of the audience that turned out for the opening. The film was shown in 25,200 shows across India, a footprint that reflects both the size of the production and the confidence of its makers and distributors in its appeal.
Advance bookings had crossed Rs 50 crore before release, a sign of the anticipation that had built up around the film, and that anticipation translated into a strong first day even if it did not translate into the three-figure opening that some had forecast.
The language breakdown of the opening day gives a detailed picture of where the audience came from. In Hindi, the film earned Rs 47.50 crore net from 20,678 shows. In Kannada, it earned Rs 7.25 crore from 1,197 shows.
In Telugu, it earned Rs 6.00 crore from 1,776 shows. In Tamil, it earned Rs 2.60 crore from 992 shows. In Malayalam, it earned Rs 1.50 crore from 557 shows.
The Hindi version accounted for the largest share by a considerable margin, as would be expected for a film of this kind, but the figures for the other languages show that the film drew audiences across the south as well. The Kannada figure, in particular, stands out in relation to the number of shows, and the Telugu figure reflects a substantial audience in that language too.
The comparison with other recent opening days places the film's performance in context. It beat Ranbir Kapoor's Animal, which had earned Rs 63.80 crore on its opening day, and it beat Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan, which had earned Rs 57 crore. Those are significant comparisons, because both Animal and Pathaan were among the biggest openings of recent years, and Ramayana's opening day, at Rs 64.85 crore net, moved past them both.
At the same time, the film fell short of Jawan, which had earned Rs 75 crore on its opening day, and of Prabhas's Adipurush, which had earned Rs 86.75 crore. The gap between Ramayana and Adipurush is particularly notable, because Adipurush was also a large-scale retelling of the Ramayana story, and its opening day remains well ahead of the new film's.
The film ranks 13th among the biggest opening-day collections in Indian cinema. That ranking is a measure of how strong the opening was in absolute terms, even as it fell short of the most optimistic predictions. To rank in the top fifteen opening days in the history of Indian cinema is, by any measure, a considerable achievement, and it reflects the combination of a beloved story, a star cast, a large release and a festive release date ahead of Diwali.
The ranking also sets a frame for the days that follow, because the question for a film of this size is not only how it opens but how it holds in the days and weeks after its release.
The scale of the film is reflected in its budget. Mounted on a budget of Rs 4,000 crore, it is touted as the most ambitious film Indian cinema has ever seen. A budget of that size places an extraordinary weight of expectation on the film, not only in terms of its opening day but in terms of its total run.
The figure has been part of the conversation around the film from the outset, and it is the reason why predictions of a Rs 100 crore opening were made in the first place. A film made at that cost is expected to open at a level that few other films can match, and the fact that it fell short of that mark on Day 1 will be read in the context of the budget as much as in the context of the opening itself.
The cast is led by Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Sai Pallavi as Sita, with Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The supporting cast includes Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi and Arun Govil.
The casting brings together actors from different parts of Indian cinema, and the choice of Kapoor and Pallavi in the central roles places two of the most prominent performers of their generation at the heart of a story that is familiar to audiences across the country.
Yash as Ravana and Sunny Deol as Hanuman are castings that carry their own weight, and the presence of Arun Govil, who is associated in the public mind with the portrayal of Rama on television, adds a further layer of resonance to the film.
The film is produced by Namit Malhotra, and the makers held a special screening in Los Angeles on 27 October, ahead of the worldwide release. The Los Angeles screening was a sign of the film's international ambitions, and the overseas gross of Rs 50 crore on Day 1 suggests that those ambitions have found an audience beyond India.
The worldwide gross of Rs 127.50 crore on the first day is a figure that combines the domestic and the overseas response, and it underlines that the film was conceived and released as a global event rather than as a domestic release alone.
The film opened to mixed reactions, and the critical response reflects that division. NDTV film critic Saibal Chatterjee wrote that it is "a visual treat all the way. Every frame jumps out of the screen and casts a spell. Sadly, the familiar characters that populate the film feel way too flat and inert."
The review draws a distinction between the visual achievement of the film and its characterisation, praising the look of the film in the strongest terms while finding the characters wanting. That distinction is likely to shape the conversation around the film in the days ahead, as audiences and critics weigh the spectacle against the storytelling.
The mixed reactions sit alongside the strong box office figures, and the relationship between the two will be tested over the coming days. A film that opens strongly on the strength of anticipation and scale can sustain its run if audiences respond to what they see on screen, and it can fade if the response is more muted.
The advance bookings, the number of shows, the tickets sold and the language-wise figures all point to a release that was planned and executed on a very large scale.
The question now is whether the film can build on its opening day, whether the Diwali period will bring further audiences, and whether the word of mouth that follows a mixed critical reception will help or hinder its progress towards recovering a budget that has been described as the largest in the history of Indian cinema.
(Reporting based on NDTV and News18.)