The Ranbir Kapoor-led production Ramayana is scheduled to hold its global debut at the David Geffen Theatre inside Los Angeles's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, placing it among a small number of Indian films to have premiered at that venue. The production team has confirmed that opening night falls on October 27.
The premiere will take place during the evening hours at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a venue whose founding purpose centres on preserving and exploring the craft, history, and technical dimensions of cinema. The venue has also drawn international gatherings and award-season festivities tied to the Oscars.
The release date aligns with Diwali, with the production team positioning Los Angeles as a venue where the festival's atmosphere is extended beyond India. Attendees have been told to wear traditional Indian festive dress on the red carpet. Seating at the premiere will be filled to its 945-person capacity, drawing together filmmakers, international press, and figures from across the film industry. Audiences will view the picture through 3D projection.
Ramayana is a two-part cinematic adaptation directed by Nitesh Tiwari, with production responsibilities shared among Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios, DNEG, and Monster Mind Creations, the outfit founded by Yash. The two instalments carry distinct release windows — the first entry is scheduled for a global release on 5 November 2026, with the second chapter timed to arrive during Diwali 2027.
The film will be available to audiences across five language communities — Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. An IMAX version is also planned. Dharma Productions will oversee Hindi-market distribution, while Sony Pictures will handle territories outside India.
Ranbir Kapoor takes on the role of Lord Rama, with Sai Pallavi portraying Sita, Yash in the part of Ravana, and Sunny Deol cast as Hanuman. The wider cast includes Ravi Dubey, Anupam Kher, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, Adinath Kothare, Arun Govil, Indira Krishnan, and Lara Dutta.
Yash has stated that the two-part Ramayana project carries a total production outlay of ₹4,000 crore across both instalments. Namit Malhotra has separately placed the film's production budget on record at ₹4,000 crore. At the trailer launch event held in Bengaluru, Yash told the audience that Namit's statement had spread widely across social media platforms.
Yash described a dynamic in which holding a firm position on a given topic can be received differently depending on the audience. He noted that in Western contexts the pattern tends to run in the opposite direction, and that pitching the film in understated terms to those viewers leaves it vulnerable to being overlooked. He expressed a desire for the Indian film industry to demonstrate its standing on the world stage.
