Ramayana worldwide box office collection day 1: Ranbir Kapoor, Yash film opens at ₹127 crore, unable to beat Adipurush despite wider release | Bollywood
It had everything going for it - the biggest budget in Indian cinema history, the widest release, a Hollywood studio’s backing, and full-scale promotions in the West. Yet, Nitesh Tiwari and Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana came up short at the box office. The film had a strong start at the domestic box office, but its global box-office numbers did not justify the scale on which the film was mounted. Ramayana still minted over ₹100 crore worldwide on its opening day, but failed to enter the top 15 biggest openings for Indian films, lagging behind even Adipurush.
Ramayana released worldwide on November 5, ahead of Diwali.Ramayana worldwide box office openingThe Ranbir Kapoor and Yash-starrer opened to great reviews on Thursday, with initial audience reactions largely positive. Yet that did not drive footfall momentum very strongly. The film earned ₹64.85 crore net ( ₹77.50 crore gross) in India on its opening day. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this collection was that the Kannada version netted only ₹7.50 crore, one-third of what Yash’s last two films - KGF Chapter 2 and Toxic - managed on their first days. This means word of mouth now needs to drive the film’s growth over its extended four-day Diwali weekend.
The bigger trouble for Ramayana has been its overseas earnings. Sony Pictures distributed the film internationally, giving it a release on 70,000 screens worldwide, almost three times as many as any Indian release so far. Yet Ramayana’s day-one overseas haul has been under $5.5 million. Of this, $1.5 million has come from the paid previews in North America. These numbers would be considered impressive for any other Indian film, but Ramayana’s scale and ambition do not justify a sub-$10 million opening. Ramayana’s total worldwide gross on day one stands at ₹127.50 crore.
Given that Ramayana is the most expensive Indian film ever made, it should have aimed for the biggest opening for any Indian film as well. Pushpa 2’s ₹274-crore record always looked safe, though. But Ramayana not even breaking the Bollywood record of Dhurandhar 2 ( ₹202 crore) should be concerning. In the end, its ₹127.50-crore start is only the 16th best in Indian cinema history, behind Jawan ( ₹129 crore) and even Adipurush ( ₹128 crore).
Ramayana's inability to beat Adipurush has been surprising, given that the latter, starring Prabhas, was a much-derided and criticised adaptation of the Ramayana. Yet its day one was bigger than the Ramayana in both gross earnings and footfalls.
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 released worldwide 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
