Ramayana 2: Release Date, Cast, Story, Budget & Pakistan (Diwali 2028)

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, and it is a big one.

My little nephew in Faisalabad called me last night, and he had only one question. “Khala, Ram aur Ravan ki larai kab hogi?” He had seen the trailer clips on YouTube, he had heard his friends talking about the film at school, and now he wants the fight. Not next week. Not next month. He wants to know the date. And honestly, half of Pakistan is asking the same question right now. So today I will answer it properly, with real facts, no rumours, and no guessing.

Here is the short answer first, so you do not have to wait. Ramayana Part 2, which most people search as Ramayana 2, is coming at Diwali 2028. Yes, 2028. Not next year. I know, that is a long wait. But there is a good reason for it, and by the end of this article you will know the date, the cast, the story, how much of the film is already shot, what the real budget is, and the honest truth about Pakistan.

So, When Is Ramayana 2 Releasing?

Ramayana 2 will release at Diwali 2028, all over the world. This is now official, and it was announced in a very filmy way. When Part 1 ended in cinemas on 5 November 2026, a card came on the screen after the credits. It said, in simple words, “Ramayana Part 2 Diwali 2028 Releasing Worldwide.” So the people sitting in the cinema got the answer before anyone else.

Producer Namit Malhotra confirmed the same date in an interview reported on 5 November. The first plan was different. When the makers first announced the two films in November 2024, Part 1 was set for Diwali 2026 and Part 2 for Diwali 2027. Now Part 2 has moved one full year, to Diwali 2028.

One thing is still not announced: the exact day. Diwali in 2028 falls on Tuesday, 17 October 2028, so the film should arrive in that week, but the makers have not fixed a date yet. Anyone on social media who tells you a fixed date is only guessing. When the real date comes, I will update this article.

Why Did Part 2 Move to 2028?

The makers say they need one more year to finish the ending properly. Namit Malhotra explained it in simple words: they want more time so that the grand finale gets the same care as Part 1, and they do not want to do a rush job. Part 2 is the war half of the story, and war on this scale takes time. More fighting, more fire, more computer work, more music, more everything.

My honest thought is this. I am glad they waited. A rushed ending can spoil a beautiful film, and we have all seen big films fall flat in the last twenty minutes because the makers were in a hurry. Part 1 took years to make, and people waited for it with love. If one more year gives us a better ending, then one more year is a fair price. I would rather wait and watch something great than watch something half-ready in a hurry.

How Much of Part 2 Is Already Shot?

Here is the good news. A big part of the film is already in the can. Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar, the man behind the camera, told The Hollywood Reporter India on 11 November 2026 that about 60 per cent of Part 2 is already shot. His own words were simple: “We have already shot about 60 per cent of Part 2.” He also said a lot of VFX work and motion capture work is still left, because the second part will be more grand than the first one.

Ranbir Kapoor had said something similar in August 2026, before Part 1 released. He said the team was already 50 per cent down shooting Part Two, because it is one continuing story. So the 60 per cent number fits. The two films were shot together in many parts, like one long story cut into two films, so that the look and the acting stay the same from Part 1 to Part 2.

What is left is the hard computer work. Pankaj Kumar said Part 2 has many more CG characters, like Hanuman and the whole vanar sena, the monkey army. Every one of those characters has to be built on a computer, frame by frame. That is slow work, and it is the real reason for the 2028 date. The acting is mostly done. The magic is still being made.

What Will Happen in Ramayana 2?

Part 1 was the beginning of the story. Part 2 is the war. It picks up right where Part 1 ends, and it follows Rama’s battle against Ravana in Lanka and the rescue of Sita. This is the part every child in Pakistan and India grows up hearing about, the part with the bridge of stones, the burning of Lanka, and the final fight between Ram and Ravan.

I will not spoil the story beat by beat here, because most of you already know the Ramayana from your dada-dadi’s stories. But I will say this. The makers have promised that Part 2 will be bigger than Part 1 in every way. Bigger war, bigger army, bigger emotions. Hanuman, who only appears at the very end of Part 1, becomes a main force in Part 2. And the face-off everyone is waiting for, Ram standing in front of Ravan, is the heart of this film.

The Cast of Ramayana 2

The main cast is the same as Part 1, and that is good news, because changing actors in the middle of a story never works. Ranbir Kapoor returns as Ram. Sai Pallavi returns as Sita. Yash returns as Ravana. Ravie Dubey returns as Lakshman. The film is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the man who made Dangal, and produced by Namit Malhotra of Prime Focus Studios with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The music, once again, comes from two legends together, Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman.

The biggest new face in Part 2 is Hanuman, played by Sunny Deol. Part 1 ends by introducing him, and Part 2 gives him a full role. Sunny Deol’s voice and screen presence suit Hanuman’s strength, and his fans in Pakistan know him well from Gadar and his long career. Raghav Juyal is also named as Meghnad, Ravana’s son, who will fight in the war. The big ensemble also includes Kajal Aggarwal, Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Kunal Kapoor, Arun Govil and others, so the film keeps the same grand cast from Part 1.

The Budget Question: Rs1,600 Crore or Rs4,000 Crore?

If you have read anything about this film, you have seen two numbers, and they look like they fight each other. One number says Rs1,600 crore. The other says Rs4,000 crore. So which one is true? The honest answer is that both numbers are real, but they count different things. Let me explain it the way my father explained household budgets to me: one number is what you spend on the house, the other is what you spend on the house plus the wedding, the travel, and everything else around it.

The Rs1,600 crore figure is the trade-reported production cost of the two films together, roughly Rs900 crore for Part 1 and Rs700 crore for Part 2. That is the money spent on making the films: the shooting, the sets, the actors, the cameras.

The Rs4,000 crore figure comes from the makers themselves. Producer Namit Malhotra has said the project will cost about 500 million dollars by the time both films are done, which is over Rs4,000 crore. Yash, who plays Ravana and is also a co-producer, explained it clearly at the trailer launch in Bengaluru and on television: the Rs4,000 crore figure covers both films plus the release and promotion around the world, not just the shooting. So the two numbers are not enemies. One is the making cost, the other is the full cost with everything included.

Neither figure is an officially audited account, and trade experts argue about both. But by any measure, this is the most expensive Indian film project ever made. The old records look small next to it: Baahubali 2 cost around Rs250 crore for both parts, 2.0 was reported around Rs500 to 600 crore, and Kalki 2898 AD was reported around Rs600 crore. Ramayana stands far above all of them.

Will There Be a Ramayana Part 3?

This is the question everyone asks after the Diwali 2028 news, so let me give you the careful truth. No, Part 3 is not confirmed. Nobody has announced it, and the makers have not promised it.

What producer Namit Malhotra did say, at the film’s Los Angeles premiere, is interesting. He said the project started with a plan for three parts, and then the makers decided to tell the story in two. He also said that once the films reach people and the response comes in, the makers may sit down again and see if there is anything more to add. His words were, in short: who knows, it depends on how the world accepts the films. Ranbir Kapoor said something similar, talking about “part two or part three, if there is one.”

So a third film is possible, but only possible. It is a door left open, not a film on the calendar. If Part 2 earns the love Part 1 is earning, the makers may come back to the table. Until then, do not believe any poster or video that says “Ramayana Part 3 confirmed.” It is not confirmed. It is a hope, and hopes are free.

Why Part 2 Matters So Much After Part 1

Part 2 is not just another sequel. It is the second half of the biggest Indian film ever made, and Part 1 has set the stage on fire. Let me give you the numbers, because numbers do not lie.

In its first seven days, Ramayana Part 1 earned Rs511.10 crore net in India, crossing the Rs500 crore mark in just one week. The Hindi version alone earned Rs394 crore in those seven days. Around the world, the film earned Rs934.55 crore in its first week, with Rs323.50 crore coming from outside India. Day 7 alone brought Rs70.65 crore net in India. You can read the full day-by-day story in my Ramayana Part 1 article, where I have updated every day’s collection with the final figures.

That is why the wait for Part 2 feels so long, and why every small update about it becomes big news. When a film earns this much in seven days, the whole world watches what comes next. The makers know it too. That is why they are taking the extra year. The ending has to be worthy of the beginning.

The Pakistan Question

Now the question my Pakistani readers ask me most, and I will answer it with the same honesty I always give you. Ramayana Part 1 did not release in Pakistani cinemas. Indian films remain banned in Pakistan, and that did not change for this film. I wrote about this clearly in the Part 1 article, and nothing has changed since.

For Part 2, nothing has been announced about Pakistan yet. No cinema chain has said it will show the film, and no government office has said the ban will lift. So please do not believe anyone who tells you, with full confidence, that Part 2 will release in Pakistan, or that it will not. Both claims are guesses right now. The only true sentence is this: Part 1 did not release here, and Part 2’s Pakistan status is still unannounced.

I know this is hard news for film lovers in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and every small town where people watch trailers on their phones. Last week, during a smoggy Lahore evening when the lights went out for an hour, my neighbour’s children were watching the Ramayana trailer on a phone, sharing one earphone between three of them, and arguing about who is stronger, Ram or Hanuman. That is how Pakistan watches big films now: on phones, on YouTube, on borrowed screens. Pakistani cinemas, meanwhile, have their own films to show, like the recent Pakistani releases I have written about on this site, and that is where our own stories live.

If anything is announced about Part 2 and Pakistan, I will update this article the same day. Until then, this page will stay honest, and I will not sell you a rumour as a fact.

If you liked this guide, share it with the friend who keeps asking you “Part 2 kab aayega?” And if you have a question about the film, ask me. You can reach me through our Contact Us page, and I read every message myself. Take care.