Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash’s Ramayana jewellery decoded: The story behind 4,500 pieces inspired by Indian art and temples

The countdown has begun for one of the highly-anticipated films of the year, Ramayana Part 1. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the epic features Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash and Ravie Dubey in lead roles. Ever since the makers unveiled the film’s trailer, its elaborate jewellery has become a talking point, with netizens curious about the inspiration behind the designs and the challenges involved in creating them.

In an exclusive interview with The Economic Times Digital, Tarang Arora, Creative Head of House of Amrapali, explained that working on Ramayana was like working on 10 films at once. He said "There's not one movie that you are doing in one movie. There's an actor, there's an actress, maybe there's a negative role someone's playing. In this, you have actors and actresses who are equal in 10 movies. Also, you have stories of each and every character."

To explain it better, Tarang Arora also discussed the research behind the designs, the influence of Indian art and temples, and the effort that went into making more than 4,500 jewellery pieces for the film.

Inspiration behind jewellery for Ram, Sita and Ravana without repeating familiar depictions

According to Arora, the scale of Ramayana made the project particularly demanding. He told us, "I think it is everyone's depiction. This is our depiction as to what would be if it would have been like that. There's no certainty for anything. But we think that there was this kind of jewellery-making happening in those days or would have happened in those days. And this is the kind of craftsmanship that would have happened in that day. We have used a lot of metal and Chittai work, repoussé work. We've used a lot of coloured stone, but very typically of both sections, Ayodhya and Lanka are separate."

He further explained that how Sita's jewellery, for instance, had to evolve as she moved from being a young girl to a married woman and later entered a different phase of her life in the forest. The team had to consider how her appearance would change with these transitions. The same attention to character development was required for others in the film.

The research began with familiar versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, along with paintings, temple sculptures and old manuscripts. Tarang told ET Digital, "We always took our inputs back to a Raja Ravi Varma painting, go to a temple and see the sculptures which were made on the walls, go to see what God-goddesses are wearing in different parts of the country in the temples. So taking inputs from that, combining those, doing the Chittai work, which is the handwork which we have primarily used across the movie, and then kind of delivering the whole thing. I think that has been the plan for us primarily."

South Indian temples were another important source of inspiration. He explained that the sculptures and intricate details on their walls were relatively well preserved, allowing the team to study traditional ornamentation closely.

During the conversation, he clarified that the team did not simply reproduce familiar images of Ram, Sita and Ravana. Arora said the jewellery represented the team's interpretation of how ornaments might have been made and worn during that era, as there was no definitive record of their exact appearance.

From Ravana's oversized ornaments to Sita's bridal jewellery

Creating more than 4,500 jewellery pieces came with several challenges, and Ravana was among the most demanding characters to design for. Arora explained that the team had to capture two sides of the character: his devotion to Lord Shiva and his identity as the powerful king of demons.

Recalling the process, Tarang said, "The pieces which we made for him were so over the top, so big. These chest pieces we created for Ravana were so large and so much man-hours have gone into it. Creating hand jewels for him, foot jewels, armlets. And then on top of that, the whole idea was that if someone's going to be wearing this, if an actor, Yash, in this scenario is going to be wearing it, how will he be moving around in it? How will he be comfortable in it?"

Meanwhile, Ram, Sita and Lakshman, required more minimal jewellery during their time in the forest. One of the team's biggest challenges was ensuring that Ayodhya and Lanka looked different despite both being powerful kingdoms.

Ram and Sita's jewellery required a different approach. Ram's look includes long necklaces, bracelets, rings, hoop-style earrings and layered ornaments. Arora hopes the styling might encourage more men to experiment with jewellery, which he believes has long been part of Indian culture and history.

For Sita, the team worked on headpieces, matha pattis, hair ornaments and layered jewellery. Her appearance was designed to change as she grew older and entered different stages of life.

Her wedding jewellery presented a particular challenge. Tarang said, "If Sita was getting married and was wearing so much jewellery but it cannot overpower her. You know, sometimes today we feel, I feel that a lot of brides overdo the jewellery as well, right? It cannot overdo you. You cannot go over the top that much that it overpowers you."

"That's what we did not want to do. It had to still be feminine. It had to be still delicate, fragile. It had to give that look and feel. So I think for us, the constant battle was, it's Ram Sita's wedding. We had to make it opulent. But how to make it opulent without making it overpowerful, without overpowering the character? And that was the challenge," he added.

How Ramayana could bring traditional Indian crafts into trend

Beyond the film's visual scale, Tarag Arora hopes the project will encourage greater appreciation for traditional jewellery-making techniques and the artisans who keep them alive.

He said the team incorporated traditional techniques, including Chittai work associated with South Indian craftsmanship, into its workshop practices. For Arora, the process was also an opportunity to understand and preserve skills that could otherwise receive less attention as younger generations explore other professions.

He believes films of this scale can help bring traditional crafts to a wider audience and create new interest in the jewellery business.

When asked if he thinks Ramayana looks would influence fashion trends, with a smile, Tarang said, "I was telling this to you before also, I really hope men start wearing a lot more, don't shy away from it. Jewellery has been a very important part of Indian culture and history. Still you'll see in the tribal areas everyone celebrated jewellery and they were happy and they wore jewellery. I think my sense to the whole thing is that men should start wearing jewellery, not shy away from it. I think when the British came to our country, they ordered jewellery used for women and men dressed in a certain way. That needs to change and hopefully will change after this movie.”

Through its elaborate ornaments, character-specific designs and use of traditional techniques, Ramayana gave the team an opportunity to bring Indian craftsmanship into a large-scale cinematic production while keeping the people behind the work at the centre of the process.

For the unversed, Ramayana Part 1, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, is slated to release in India on November 5.