PLOT: An ancient epic follows a young prince and princess whose marriage and subsequent exile mark the beginning of a legendary journey. Their story of love, duty and destiny sets the stage for greater challenges ahead.
REVIEW: Ever since RRR released to cinemas in 2022, it seems as though Bollywood has finally made an impact in the US market. Now, every few months, a new Indian film with over-the-top CGI and an even more outrageous plot releases to cinemas. But to avoid imposter syndrome, I should make it clear that this is where my knowledge of Indian cinema ends. I’m taking everything at face value, and just judging Ramayana as a form of entertainment with absolutely zero backstory. So I’m sure I’m about to piss off a whole swath of people with this review.
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend tells the story of Ravana as he takes dominion of the three worlds after becoming nearly invincible. But he has one weakness: he can be killed by a human. So when Prince Ram starts making a stir after being exiled with his wife and brother, it’s clear that these two paths will cross in battle. I don’t know any Indian mythology, so this was my first time hearing this story. It’s very traditional in its structure and very epic in its scale, which means it can be extremely predictable. Combined with the awkward pacing, which goes so fast at times and slams to a halt at others, I found myself just wanting it to get to the point. The entire film is leading to this big confrontation, and then it becomes clear that all the good stuff is being saved for the next entry.
Yash’s Ravana is built up to be the most overpowered villain that has ever existed. He manages to take on every single obstacle and does so with ease. The opening sees him take out an entire army by himself and makes it hard to see anyone else being able to topple him. His power is only cemented as the story goes on, and Yash has such an intensity and presence that the story suffers when not focusing on him. On the other side of the coin, Ranbir Kapoor’s Ram is essentially just the good version of Ravana in terms of his power level. He’s able to take on any challenge with such ease that it makes his journey quite predictable. It doesn’t help that Kapoor is rather bland in the role, and doesn’t have the same spark that Yash does as his adversary.
As the most expensive Bollywood film ever made (both entries cost nearly half a billion dollars), I expected a little more consistency with the special effects. Sometimes, it looks photorealistic, and other times it’s very awkward green screen. Very rarely are we treated to a shot that doesn’t have some kind of visual FX element, so it’s not shocking that the price tag was so steep. Just seems like they bit off a bit more than they could chew, and it results in some awkward visuals and plenty of physics-defying moments that aren’t magic related.
The score features hints of The Mandalorian, Lord of the Rings, and even Superman at various times. Which I suppose makes sense since we’ve got composers James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, A.R. Rahman, and Rishab Rikhiram Sharma all contributing. Though it should be said that the score can be a bit melodramatic with how much emphasis they try to put on the climax of every scene or character introduction. It reaches unintentional hilarity as the music swells to the point of shaking the seat, even in mundane moments or in quick succession with other similar musical cues.
I saw this with a majority Indian crowd, and nearly everything that Ravi Dubey’s Lakshman said got a massive reaction. Most of the time, it was just a simple line read, and the crowd would go absolutely nuts. It was at the point where I was just fascinated because I didn’t find anything he was saying to be particularly funny or charming, yet it was like the Beatles were coming on screen when he would appear. This kind of disconnect really summed up my entire experience watching the film. It was very unique, and I’m sure if you’re a fan of Bollywood, you’ll be more forgiving of what I found to be issues in the film.
I saw the Hindi version of Ramayana: Rise of a Legend in 3D, and that’s probably the way to go as it gives you the most bang for your buck. Not only does this version have 30 minutes of additional footage, but the dubbed version also has AI lip-syncing, which can cause a strange uncanny valley effect. Though, I should point out that the 3D dims the image so much that I could hardly make out details during many of the night scenes. Since the 3D is mostly just done to add depth, I would have preferred to actually see the full image.
While there’s clearly a market for Bollywood films, the insane CGI and convoluted story beats of Ramayana aren’t super appealing to me, personally. There is no world where this needed to be over 3 hours in length, and I was constantly noting scenes that could be cut with no effect on the story. It destroyed the pacing, especially in the second half. I’m sure that has a lot to do with this being based on mythology, but it results in a bloated film. Oddly though, I’m actually looking forward to the next one, as that will feature all the moments this film was building towards. Here’s hoping they take a little bit more time on the FX for that one.
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is In Theaters on November 6th, 2026.
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