THE STORY – 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.
THE CAST – Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Ravi Dubey & Sunny Deol
THE TEAM – Nitesh Tiwari (Director/Writer) & Shridhar Raghavan (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 167 Minutes
For many Westerners unfamiliar with the tale that is “Ramayana,” it’s one of the most widely adapted works of literature ever written. Indian poet Valmiki, whose integral role in creating the epic has left a lasting legacy, has ensured that “Ramayana” remains, at least in parts of the world, an “Odyssey”-level story passed down through centuries. It’s filled with heartbreak, forest demons, grandiose battle sequences, gods, love, deceit, and essentially all the hallmarks required to make one hell of an epic. That makes this cinematic endeavor for filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari one that many of his peers wouldn’t dare tackle. “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend” delivers the operatic scale needed to tell one of history’s most riveting tales. Yet, it still suffers from the sins of being a part one, though Tiwari makes a presentable case for why it is a legend worth seeing on the big screen.
Audiences are spared no detail as Shridhar Raghavan and Tiwari’s screenplay patently lays the groundwork for the arrival of the heroic Rama and the conflict he’d endure on his path to becoming a legend. We mostly see the film’s first act through Yash’s Ravana, a devoted follower of Shiva whose position in life drives him on a vengeful quest, as he’s granted an almost immortal power that sets him apart from those around him and eventually lets him usurp the powers that be. Ravana’s rise creates a kingdom so mighty that no one, earthly or spiritual, would dare challenge it. Only the inevitable birth of Rama, played by Ranbir Kapoor, an avatar of the god Vishnu, sets the stage for a collision between these two gargantuan forces of good and evil. Tiwari, in his attempt to fully flesh out the story, does lead to one of the biggest issues with “Ramayana” mainly with its pacing.
Yash’s menacing performance gives him a magnetic screen presence, from his aura-farming villainy to the well-choreographed dance sequence that leads into the film’s title cards half an hour in, making the inevitable narrative transition to Rama’s storyline feel slightly abrupt. Tiwari effectively gives us an antagonist to root for, yet spends the rest of the film’s extended runtime balancing the two pillars of “Ramayana,” which often feel split until the narratives begin to converge. Kapoor (who also plays Parashurama and Lord Vishnu) is solid in the titular role. Yet his character’s mostly stoic nature leaves even the more emotionally charged moments of his journey feeling unmoving compared with some of the riveting set pieces he and his loved ones find themselves embroiled in during the film’s latter half.
The main reason people see a film like “Ramayana” is the spectacle, with a multitude of large-scale battle sequences that aim to immerse audiences in an experience like no other. For the most part, Tiwari achieves this grandeur through intimate hand-to-hand duels, yet many battles are tough to sit through because the visual effects feel weightless. DNEG, the company behind films like “Dune” and “Interstellar” and responsible for the VFX here, has done far better, though large portions of the “Ramayana” still look like cutscenes from an outdated video game. There are literal moments when the film’s frame rate drops mid-sequence, and you would think you’re sitting in front of your PlayStation. Many of the creature-related character models, whether it’s Ravana’s giant brother Kumbhakarna or the flying demigod Jatayu, stand out compared to their human counterparts. It does take some time to adjust, especially with how rubbery it looks. Yet, it’s far more palatable than the unsuccessful attempt to ease audiences watching the English dub with generative AI.
Our experience, like many other critics, with “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend” is with the film’s English dub rather than the original Hindi-language version with subtitles. Tiwari’s outspoken use of generative AI, in hopes of making the lip-syncing (or, in this case, mouth stitching) feel more integrated, only distracts viewers. The English voice actors’ performances are as good as they can be. Still, the slight inconvenience of delayed audio, or having audiences expend a modicum of energy reading subtitles, is essentially wasted by Tiwari’s pretense of preserving the original performances with technology that certainly does nothing.
Overall, audiences can still be swept up by “Ramayana,” even if it feels so stuffed at times that it might’ve needed a “Game of Thrones”-level television adaptation to flesh out its narrative fully. Tiwari packs the first half of this epic to the brim, and that’s saying a lot, considering the English dub is rumored to run half an hour shorter. It’s easy to get caught up in the energy of “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend”, especially as the bombastic score by A. R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer evokes the splendor this story of this scale needs. If anything, Tiwari has enough here to intrigue audiences, even somewhat skeptical ones like me, to see how Rama’s journey resolves.
