Ramayana Movie: Release Date, Cast, Advance Booking, and the Pakistan Question

Update — 6 November 2026: Ramayana’s first day in India is now final. The film earned Rs64.85 crore net in India (Rs77.50 crore gross), with the Hindi version at Rs47.50 crore — below the pre-release expectation of Rs55–60 crore Hindi mentioned below. The worldwide Day-1 total is still not confirmed, and the Rs50.08 crore figure quoted in early reports was the Day-1 advance booking, not the collection. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.
Update (6 November): Ramayana made Rs127.50 crore around the world on Day 1 — Rs77.50 crore in India and Rs50 crore from other countries.

Update — 7 November 2026: Day 2 is now final too. Ramayana earned Rs48.05 crore net in India on Friday 6 November — Hindi Rs35.50 crore — down about 26% from Day 1’s Rs64.85 crore. In two days the film has earned Rs112.90 crore net in India, and Rs221.05 crore around the world. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.

Update — 8 November 2026: Day 3 is now final too. Ramayana earned Rs69.80 crore net in India on Saturday 7 November — Hindi Rs53.00 crore — up about 45% from Day 2’s Rs48.05 crore, and its biggest day so far. In three days the film has earned Rs182.70 crore net in India, and Rs375.50 crore around the world. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.

Update — 9 November 2026: Day 4 is now final too. Ramayana earned Rs56.15 crore net in India on Sunday 8 November — Hindi Rs36.75 crore — down about 20% from Day 3’s Rs69.80 crore, as Diwali evening shows slowed down. In four days the film has earned Rs238.85 crore net in India, and Rs499.20 crore around the world — just short of Rs500 crore. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.

Update — 10 November 2026: Day 5 is now final too. Ramayana earned Rs107.50 crore net in India on Monday 9 November — Hindi Rs87.25 crore — up about 91% from Day 4’s Rs56.15 crore, and its biggest day so far. In five days the film has earned Rs346.35 crore net in India, and Rs663.90 crore around the world. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.

Update — 11 November 2026: Day 6 is now final too. Ramayana earned Rs94.10 crore net in India on Tuesday 10 November — Hindi Rs76.00 crore — down about 12.5% from Day 5’s Rs107.50 crore. In six days the film has earned Rs440.45 crore net in India, and Rs823.50 crore around the world. Pakistan still has no cinema release — Indian films remain banned.

Assalam-o-Alaikum, my dear readers. How are you all? I hope you are well, and that your chai is ready, because today I have a film story for you that half the world is talking about.

When I was small, winter nights in our house had a fixed routine. The heaters would come on, the blankets would come out, and the elders would tell long stories from old epics — heroes, exiles, battles between good and evil, told slowly, the way such stories deserve to be told. I thought of those nights this week, because one of those ancient stories has now become the biggest film of the year. The Ramayana movie — Ramayana: Part 1, also called Ramayana: Rise of a Legend outside India — has released in cinemas worldwide today, Thursday 5 November 2026. It stars Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana. It cost more money than any Indian film ever made. And it comes with one question that matters most to us here: is it releasing in Pakistan? The honest answer is no — not in cinemas, and not yet on any streaming service in Pakistan either. Let me explain everything, simply and honestly: the cast, the story, the record advance booking, the divided early reviews, and what Pakistani fans can actually do.

Here is the short answer first. Ramayana: Part 1 released worldwide today, 5 November 2026, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, plus an English version internationally, in IMAX and 3D. It is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the director of Dangal, and produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The film’s final advance booking, before a single public show, was about Rs143.50 crore worldwide, according to trade site Pinkvilla — the second-biggest advance booking ever for a Bollywood film. And yet, for readers in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and everywhere else in Pakistan, there is no cinema ticket to buy and no legal streaming option announced yet. Indian films remain banned in Pakistan, and no exception has been confirmed for this film. I know that is disappointing news for many of you. I will tell you exactly where things stand, and what to watch out for, so nobody fools you with fake news.

Who Is In The Cast?

The cast is the first reason this film became so big. Ranbir Kapoor plays Ram. Sai Pallavi, one of South India’s most loved actresses, plays Sita — this is her big Hindi film debut in a leading role. Yash, the star of KGF, plays Ravana, and from the early reactions, his performance is the thing almost everyone agrees on. Sunny Deol plays Hanuman. Ravie Dubey plays Lakshman. The supporting cast includes Arun Govil as Dasharatha, Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha, and Mohit Raina as Shiva. The music is by A. R. Rahman together with Hans Zimmer, the Hollywood composer behind the music of films like The Lion King and Interstellar — a pairing nobody had seen before in Indian cinema. The film runs for 3 hours and 15 minutes, and it carries a U certificate in India, which means it is cleared for all ages.

For those who do not know the story: the Ramayana is one of the world’s oldest epics. It tells the story of Prince Ram, who is sent into exile from his kingdom, and his wife Sita, who is taken away by the demon king Ravana. Ram, with his brother Lakshman and the devoted Hanuman, journeys to rescue her, in a story about duty, love, and the fight between good and evil. This film is Part 1 of a two-part telling of that story. Part 2 was announced for Diwali 2027, but I must be honest with you here: recent reports say it may slip to Diwali 2028 because the big battle scenes need more time, and the makers have not confirmed any delay. So treat Diwali 2027 as the announced date, and the 2028 talk as an unconfirmed report, not a fact.

How Big Is The Budget, Really?

You may have seen many different budget numbers on social media, so let me clear the confusion, because this is where fake news spreads fastest. Producer Namit Malhotra himself has said the two-part epic costs around Rs4,000 crore in total — about $500 million — including international promotion. That is for BOTH parts together. It is a reported figure from the producer, not an officially audited account, and nobody has published a separate budget for Part 1 alone. So if you see a post claiming Part 1 alone cost Rs835 crore, or any other single-film figure, know that it is not verified. The only figure with a named source behind it is Rs4,000 crore for the two films together. That still makes it the most expensive Indian film project ever attempted, by a very wide margin — and that is why the whole world, from Los Angeles to Lahore, is watching its opening.

The Advance Booking: A Record, But Read It Carefully

Now the numbers, because they are genuinely historic — and because they are also easy to misread. According to Pinkvilla’s final advance-booking report, published on the morning of release, the film collected about Rs143.50 crore worldwide in advance booking alone. That breaks down as about Rs71 crore in India and about $7.625 million — roughly Rs72.50 crore — overseas, with America, Canada, Britain, Australia and the Middle East leading. That makes it the second-biggest advance booking ever for a Bollywood film, behind only Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which took over Rs250 crore in advance. The trade expectation for Day 1 itself is about Rs55 to 60 crore net in Hindi, plus about Rs15 crore net for the dubbed versions, with a worldwide Day 1 gross projected above Rs150 crore.

But here is the part I want you to understand, because two different trackers give two different-looking numbers and both are honest — they just count differently. Sacnilk, which counts online ticket bookings including “blocked seats” — seats cinemas hold back and may or may not sell — puts the India advance at Rs130.12 crore including blocked seats, or Rs105.12 crore without them, with 36.37 lakh tickets sold for shows between 5 and 10 November. Pinkvilla’s India figure of about Rs71 crore is a trade estimate of the actual advance value, not the blocked-seat total. So when a social media post shouts “Rs150 crore advance,” it is usually mixing these two methods together, and Pinkvilla itself warns that such higher numbers come from scraped booking-site data, not from real collections. The clean truth is this: the advance is the second-biggest ever, the opening is expected to be huge, and the real Day 1 collections will only be known after the first day ends. Anyone giving you a final Day 1 total in the morning is guessing.

What Are The Early Reviews Saying?

Honestly? They are divided, and I will not pretend otherwise. Trade critic Taran Adarsh gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, calling it “spectacular” and saying it has scale, visuals, emotions and soul. Creator Ashish Chanchlani, after a Mumbai screening, called it a blockbuster of epic proportions with some of the best action ever seen in Indian cinema, and praised Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. But many early viewers who watched the paid previews posted very different views: ratings of 2.5 and 3 out of 5, praising the scale and Yash’s Ravana — “scene-stealer” is the word that keeps appearing — while criticising uneven CGI, a slow second half, weak chemistry between Ranbir and Sai Pallavi, and a background score that disappointed some listeners. A first-day review published this morning landed in the same mixed place: breathtaking visuals, Yash dominating as Ravana, but the Ram–Sita relationship deserving more emotional depth.

So the fair summary is this: almost everyone agrees Yash steals the show as Ravana, and almost everyone agrees the film looks enormous. Where people split is on the pacing, the CGI in places, and whether the love story at the heart of the epic moves you or leaves you cold. That is not a bad thing. The biggest films always divide people on the first day, and the real verdict comes from the second weekend, when the excitement settles and word of mouth takes over. I will not tell you it is a masterpiece or a disaster on day one, because neither claim is honest yet.

Is Ramayana Releasing In Pakistan?

This is the question I have been asked the most, and I will answer it as plainly as I can. No. As of today, 5 November 2026, there is no cinema release of Ramayana in Pakistan, and no report today of the ban on Indian films being lifted or of any exception for this film. The ban remains in place amid the political and military tensions between the two countries, and the latest reporting on this question is from 29 October, which said only that whether Ramayana gets an exception “remains to be seen.”

You may have seen a video of Hindu community members in Karachi celebrating with a Ramayana poster at a temple, asking for the film to be released here. That excitement is real — people in Pakistan do love this story, and the video touched many hearts. But please note carefully: even the site that reported it said the original footage and its location have not been independently verified. A celebration video is not a release announcement. Do not believe any post that claims “Ramayana releasing in Pakistani cinemas this Friday” unless it names a cinema chain and a date you can check. Right now, no such announcement exists.

And one more warning, from my heart. Because there is no legal way to watch it in Pakistan yet, piracy links will flood TikTok, WhatsApp and Facebook in the next few days. Do not click them, and do not pay anyone for a “HD print.” Apart from the virus and fraud risk — these links are a classic way to steal your data and your JazzCash balance — pirated copies hurt the very filmmakers whose work you want to celebrate, and the quality is usually terrible. Wait for a legal option. Your patience protects you and respects the artists.

When Can Pakistanis Watch It Online?

Here the news is a little better, but still incomplete. The film’s digital rights have gone to JioHotstar, and it will stream there on a pay-per-view basis — meaning you buy the film separately, it is not included in a normal subscription. But the streaming date has not been announced, and neither has the price. Because of the usual minimum eight-week gap between cinema and streaming, the earliest it could appear is around January 2027, but please understand: that is an inference from the reported window, not an announced date. Do not mark any January date in your calendar as confirmed.

And here is the Pakistan catch, which matters more than anything else in this section: JioHotstar is an Indian service. No Pakistan streaming partner, no Pakistan price, and no Pakistan availability have been announced at all. So even when the film reaches streaming, Pakistani viewers do not yet have a confirmed legal way to watch it. If that changes — if a Pakistani platform announces it, or if the cinema situation changes — I will update you here, because this is exactly the kind of story that changes fast, and you deserve the update from a source that checks before it posts.

Why This Film Matters Beyond The Box Office

Whatever the final collections are, this film already matters for one simple reason. It is the first time an Indian epic of this scale has been made with Hollywood-level visual effects, a world-famous composer, and a global release in five Indian languages plus English — premiered at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, with the cast walking the red carpet in traditional dress. It is an attempt to take a story told in our region for thousands of years and show it to the entire world, the way Hollywood shows its own myths. Whether it fully succeeds is a question the coming weeks will answer. But the ambition itself is historic, and that is why your timeline is full of it today — from Mumbai to Karachi to London.

For us in Pakistan, the story has a second meaning. We share this region’s stories, its languages, its music, and its memories, even when politics divides the cinemas. The excitement you see in Karachi for this film is proof of that shared culture. Art travels even when films cannot, and I hope one day soon, the doors open again, and Pakistani audiences can watch such films in their own cinemas, with their families, the way cinema is meant to be watched.

Take care, my dear readers, and if you watched the trailer, or if you are waiting like me for a legal way to see this film in Pakistan, please tell me through our Contact Us page. I would love to hear which part of the story you love most, and what questions you still have. Your questions are always welcome, and I will try my best to answer them.