New Delhi: Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend has made a splash even before its release, with advance bookings in India crossing Rs 5.44 crore in less than a day.
According to Sacnilk, the film has generated Rs 3.61 crore in advance bookings after excluding blocked seats, as of 2pm on Wednesday. Bookings had opened across 3,537 shows in 104 cities.
Delhi-NCR leads the advance booking figures, collecting Rs 1.52 crore from 19,913 tickets. Mumbai follows closely with Rs 1.10 crore from 16,000 tickets. Pune, Kolkata and Bengaluru are among the other top cities contributing to the film’s pre-release sales.
The Hindi version has done the bulk collections, earning Rs 5.15 crore. The Kannada version has collected Rs 27.95 lakh, while the Telugu version has earned Rs 48,700.
Alongside the advance booking announcement, the makers released Rise of Asura, a video showcasing Yash as Ravana performing the ‘Ravana Tandav’. The Hindi version features vocals by Vishal Dadlani, with lyrics by Kumar Vishwas.
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Dispute delayed advance bookings
Bookings opened on Tuesday, more than two weeks before the film’s November 5 release. The rollout was delayed amid a dispute between Dharma Productions, the film’s North India distributor, and cinema exhibitors over revenue-sharing terms. According to Mid-day, Dharma initially demanded a 60 per cent share of first-week profits, instead of the usual 50-50 split. The makers however announced that bookings were open across India.
The two-part adaptation of the Hindu epic stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. The cast also includes Sunny Deol, Ravi Dubey, Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Anupam Kher and Rakul Preet Singh. The film will follow the early stages of Lord Rama’s journey, with the epic narrative set to unfold across two installments. Sunny Deol will portray Hanuman, while Ravi Dubey takes on the role of Lakshman.
On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that Ramayana will be tax-free in the state.
“The Ramayana film has been made tax-free. The Kerala Story, The Kashmir Files, and The Bengal Files—all of these will be (or have been) made tax-free, and the same will apply to Ramayana. In the days to come, we will see films on Shri Krishna and Arjuna, as well as the Mahabharata,” he said.
Sony Pictures is handling the film’s international distribution, with Ramayana also planned for premium formats, including IMAX. The film has also seen strong advance sales overseas, including in the US, UK and Australia.