Ramayana box office prediction: With ₹160 crore projected start, Ranbir Kapoor-Yash film dwarfs Jawan and Animal, but no match for Dhurandhar 2, RRR | Bollywood
It may be the biggest Indian film ever, getting the widest release in Indian cinema history, but alas, Ramayana is not on course to set the biggest opening for an Indian film. In fact, if the current trends hold, it may not even break into the top five biggest openings by Indian films. Despite this, Ramayana is on course for a massive start at the box office, just not as big as a film of this scale would have warranted.
Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama in Ramayana.Ramayana advance booking updateAdvance bookings for Ramayana began globally on Dussehra, 15 days before the film’s wide release. There was an early push, and overseas pre-sales took off immediately, but in India, ticket booking hit a roadblock. There was disagreement between the exhibitors and the film’s distributors over revenue sharing, which meant that most screens did not open up bookings till just five days ago. However, Ramayana gained momentum as release week approached. By Wednesday morning, with less than 24 hours to go for the release, Ramayana had grossed ₹77 crore in pre-sales in India for its opening weekend. The opening day alone accounted for around ₹33 crore of this. Overseas, the film has collected $5.6 million in advance bookings, including $1.5 million for the paid previews in North America. This takes the film’s global advance booking to ₹125 crore. But only about ₹70 crore of it is for the opening day (including paid previews)
Ramayana has collected ₹33 crore in gross pre-sales for its opening day in India, with a day to go before release. The film has a shot at crossing ₹40 crore by the end of the day. This could translate into an ₹80 crore net opening day for the film in India. Surprisingly, the Hindi version is looking to dominate the proceedings, contributing around ₹55-60 crore to the total net. Despite Yash’s presence, the Kannada version does not look to open at record levels. Overseas, the North American paid previews have painted an encouraging picture for the Nitesh Tiwari film. According to trade insiders, the film could earn $1.6 million in paid previews and over $5 million on day 1. This would translate to a global start of ₹160 crore gross. Some conservative estimates put the figure closer to ₹150 crore, while some optimistic ones still hope the film will inch toward the ₹200-crore mark, even if that now looks increasingly difficult.
Ramayana is getting the widest release ever for an Indian film, with Sony distributing it in 70,000 screens worldwide. As a result, many trade insiders had expected the film to have a bigger opening overseas. But so far, that does not seem to be materialising. Ramayana will likely miss a ₹200-crore opening day and stay behind all-time record holders Pushpa 2 ( ₹274 crore), RRR ( ₹223 crore), and Baahubali 2 ( ₹214 crore). Makers of Ramayana may be disappointed that it also looks set to miss Dhurandhar 2’s Bollywood record of ₹205 crore, set earlier this year. The film also looks set to miss the top 5, which is rounded off by Kalki 2898 AD ( ₹176 crore). It may, however, pip KGF Chapter 2 ( ₹159 crore).
Ramayana will still easily soar past the opening day of the previous Ramayana adaptation, Adipurush. The Prabhas-starrer opened at ₹127 crore in 2024. It will also beat the opening-day collections of other Bollywood blockbusters like Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan ( ₹129 crore) and Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal ( ₹116 crore).
Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is planned as a two-part film. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. The first part is scheduled for worldwide release on November 5, 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2028.
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More
