Rs 4,000 crore Ramayana producer lost 90% of his wealth in 2008 recession. How Namit Malhotra bounced back to build an Oscar-winning company from a Mumbai garage and back the epic movie

Ramayana Part 1 is all set to arrive in theatres on November 5, and fans are eagerly looking forward to its release. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash in lead roles. The ambitious project is being produced by Namit Malhotra. But behind the film's reported Rs 4,000 crore budget is a inspiring journey of a businessman who started with a small venture in a Mumbai garage, lost 90% of his wealth during the 2008 financial crisis and eventually built an Oscar-winning visual-effects company.

Namit Malhotra calls Ramayana presentation his 'Oscar moment'

Ahead of the film's release, the makers hosted a special presentation at the Academy Theater in Los Angeles. Addressing the audience, Namit described the occasion as his personal Oscar moment. He said his company, DNEG, and its team have won eight Academy Awards, with seven of those wins coming in the last 11 years for visual effects.




Namit also acknowledged the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in international cinema, including Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve.

Recalling his early days, the producer spoke about starting a business at the age of 19 with an Apple computer in a Mumbai garage. He saidm "For a third-generation film family background, and a garage startup kid at 19 with an Apple computer working with three of his teachers who were all of 21. This is what dreams are made of and what better place to share this moment than the city of dreams - Los Angeles.”

How Namit Malhotra lost 90% of his wealth in 2008 and bounced back

Namit's professional journey began with a small video-editing and computer-graphics venture. As reported by Indian Express, in 1997, he merged the business with his father’s equipment-rental company to establish Prime Focus Limited. The company gradually grew into a major player in post-production and visual effects.

Speaking at the Los Angeles presentation, Namit recalled how he lost 90% of his wealth during the 2008 recession.

“In my pursuit of building a global company and connecting the East and the West, I set foot in LA in 2007 and haven’t looked back since. An immigrant, who lost 90% of his wealth with the fun times in 2008, as I am sure some of you may remember, to bounce back today and being able to bring the biggest independent production in the world… I can’t even tell you what it feels like to stand here today and say this. We have been able to bring together some of the absolute best talent from India, as you all have seen, and have collaborated with some of the finest Western talent,” he said.



He said that moving to the US as an immigrant and facing such a financial crisis made the journey difficult. However, he eventually managed to rebuild his business and reach a position where he could bring together leading Indian and international talent for a large-scale independent production.

He also expressed gratitude to the people who supported him throughout the journey, including his parents, Nita and Naresh Malhotra, and his wife. Namit credited his filmmaker father for encouraging him to begin his career in production and explained that he initially entered post-production and visual effects with the long-term ambition of making films.

In 2014, Prime Focus merged with London-based visual-effects studio Double Negative. The company was subsequently rebranded as DNEG and went on to win eight Academy Awards for its work on international films.

All about Namit Malhotra's Rs 4,000 crore Ramayana

Namit's journey has now expanded from post-production and visual effects to large-scale film production. His latest project is Ramayana, a two-part cinematic adaptation of the Indian epic, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and co-produced by actor Yash.

The ambitious project has a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore. Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama, while Sai Pallavi essays Sita and Yash portrays Ravana. The ensemble cast also includes Ravi Dubey, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and Arun Govil in important roles.

Ramayana Part 1 is scheduled to release worldwide on November 5 in multiple languages.