Ramayana builds a stronger domestic bridge amid global push

Despite a reported overseas release across nearly 50,000 screens — more than four times its domestic footprint — Ramayana: Part 1 has drawn close to 64% of its worldwide box-office collections from India in its first six days, with Rs 526.5 crore coming from the home market against Rs 296.9 crore overseas, underscoring the enduring pull of domestic audiences even as the film makes an ambitious global play.

The film has been released across nearly 9,000 screens in India, with its overseas rollout expected to cover around 50,000 screens.

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Over the past two days, the film, positioned as a global product has also benefited from the festive mood in India and premium ticket prices, which audiences appear willing to pay for its visual spectacle.

But trade analysts say the film has yet to make a comparable impression on Western audiences.

“The claim that Ramayana: Part 1 would appeal to Western audiences has not lived up to expectations,” said movie trade analyst Girish Wankhede. “If Western audiences had embraced it, it would have topped the global box office, given its potential,” he added.

More than a year ago, in an interview with a foreign publication, the film’s producer Namit Malhotra had said: “In my mind, if people in the West don’t like it, I consider that a failure.”

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Experts in in-film brand merchandising and marketing point to a lack of cultural relatability as a key reason for the film’s limited connect with Western audiences.

Viewers unfamiliar with the epic, they say, may have missed some of its cultural context and nuances.

“Sufficient investments have been made in promoting the film in the West. But somehow, it seems the Western audience has not connected with its storytelling,” said Navin Shah, joint managing director of EMC Solutions Worldwide, a company specialising in branded entertainment.

Film scholars see a deeper challenge in the way the story and its characters have been presented.

They argue that the film lacks the complexities and nuances that define its central characters, and that a largely factual, linear and simplified treatment may have come at the cost of emotional depth.

“In an epic narrative, you must clearly define who is the hero and who is the anti-hero. The film is more invested in Ravana than in Ram. The melodrama needed to build the complexities of Ram is missing,” said Dr Piyush Roy, dean of the School of Film, Media & Creative Arts at RV University, Bengaluru. ‘Stripping the character of Ravana of his demonic traits, which are part of his core nature, also kills the epic’s central message,’ added Roy.

The absence of extended emotional build-ups around pivotal moments such as Ram’s departure from Ayodhya, Sita’s abduction and the reunion of Ram and Bharat may also have blunted the film’s emotional impact, scholars said.

“The film does not have the melodramatic moments that would bring out the complexity of its key characters. The approach that a film must be made simple to appeal to a global audience is problematic. Emotions work everywhere. The West has many stories built around complex characters. The Odyssey is a prime example. Even mainstream spectacle films are exploring the backstories of familiar characters such as Spider-Man,” Roy said.

The film has also faced competition from Godzilla Minus Zero, which trade analysts say has drawn Western audiences on the strength of an established franchise and a loyal following.