‘Ramayana’ World Premiere Held At Academy Museum In Los Angeles

Photo: @saipallavi_mhfc

India-West News Desk

LOS ANGELES, CA – The makers of ‘Ramayana’ held an invitation-only 3D screening of the film’s English-language version, ‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,’ at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures here on October 27.

The screening at the David Geffen Theater filled all 945 seats, prompting organizers to open an additional auditorium to accommodate more attendees. The audience included international journalists, industry representatives and entertainment figures Jada Pinkett Smith, Gisella Marengo and Benji Kelly.

Lead actors Yash who is getting rave reviews for playing Ravan, Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi attended the premiere alongside director Nitesh Tiwari, filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra. Yash was accompanied by his wife, Radhika Pandit. The cast and filmmakers posed for photographs ahead of the screening.

Addressing the gathering, Malhotra spoke about the scale of the production and his ambition to bring the Indian epic to a global audience. He described the premiere as a personal milestone, calling it his “Oscar moment” because of the significance of presenting the film at the Academy Museum.

Malhotra also highlighted the achievements of DNEG, the visual-effects company associated with the project, which has won eight Academy Awards. He recalled starting a venture at the age of 19 with an Apple computer and a small team of mentors before moving to Los Angeles in 2007.

Produced by Prime Focus Studios, led by Malhotra and Yash, in collaboration with DNEG, the two-part ‘Ramayana’ has a combined budget of approximately $500 million, or more than Rs. 4,000 crores. Malhotra has said the project has been in development for six or seven years and that the production aims to balance its ambitious scale with cost efficiency.

Industry analyst Taran Adarsh described the Los Angeles screening as an important international showcase for Indian cinema in a social media post about the event.

The cast also includes Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, along with Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Arun Govil, Lara Dutta and Kajal Aggarwal. The music has been composed by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer.

The first installment is scheduled for worldwide theatrical release on November 5 ahead of Diwali, while the second part is slated for release during Diwali 2027.