New Delhi: KGF: Chapter 2 is the reason behind Yash’s casting as Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana. Producer Namit Malhotra revealed in an interview that after watching the blockbuster, he was convinced that Yash had the screen presence required to portray the character.
Malhotra had not met Yash before the pre-production of Ramayana began, as reported by ScreenRant on Tuesday. It was KGF that made him believe the actor had the intensity needed to do Ravana justice. At the time, Malhotra was living in Los Angeles, where the two eventually met.
“He visited LA and we happened to get together. We were in the middle of developing the story. I ended up showing him the world of Ramayana,” Malhotra said. “I had seen his film, so I knew about the kind of energy that he could bring to the character of Ravana. I knew he would be very powerful.”
Malhotra also shared how naturally the collaboration happened.
“He came on board to join me as a producer and bring this to the world. He got excited about the ambition and aspiration of Ramayana,” he remarked.
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Casting Rama and Ravana
The producer also revealed that once director Nitesh Tiwari and the team had locked the script, there was no one else they could imagine as Lord Rama besides Ranbir Kapoor.
“He’s not an easy actor to cast. He is a big star, you don’t know what he was doing back in the day. So we were like, before we even go to who’s option two or three…” he said.
Malhotra wasn’t sure if Kapoor would agree to the role but “we gave it our best shot”.
“They don’t really have a choice now. They have to say something else.” Ranbir Kapoor jokingly said.
In the same interview, director Nitesh Tiwari said he could not have been happier with the casting.
“As a director, if you have Ranbir Kapoor playing Lord Rama and Yash playing Ravana, it is drool-worthy stuff,” he said.
Ramayana: Part One is scheduled for a Diwali 2026 release.