Days before Ramayana opens in cinemas, Yash is fielding a question that no promotional tour prepared him for: how to explain to his own son that his father is playing Ravana. In a conversation with television presenter Suma Kanakala on her YouTube channel, the Kannada superstar said Yatharv, who grew up listening to the Ramayana from his grandparents, struggled with the casting.
‘Aren’t you Rama?’
Yash said his son asked him directly how he could be Ravana and why he was not Rama. His answer was gentle: “I am Rama in real life, but in the movie, I am playing Ravana.” Yatharv’s reply was even simpler: “Then you are the bad guy.”
The actor said he explained cinema and acting, using drawings to show that the character he plays is different from the person he is at home.
The question every fan may have
The harder moment came when Yatharv asked who he should root for while watching the film. Yash described it as a complicated question—and said his fans might wonder the same thing, especially in scenes like Sita Apaharan, where Ravana should not be liked.
His response separated the story from the performance:
- When you listen to the Ramayana, Rama is the figure everyone has to follow.
- Ravana may look glamorous or powerful, but winning means understanding the essence of Lord Rama.
- In the movie, his son can root for Yash, but should not take the villainy personally.
Yash said the conversation caught him off guard. He had thought about how fans would receive him as Ravana, but had not anticipated his son’s questions, and he hopes Yatharv understands the distinction more fully as he grows older.
Why it matters before release
Ramayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and backed by Namit Malhotra. The two-part adaptation of Valmiki’s epic is reportedly mounted on a ₹4,000 crore budget and stars Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol and Ravi Dubey in lead roles. Anupam Kher, Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, Adinath Kothare, Arun Govil, Indira Krishnan and Lara Dutta also feature.
The first part opens on November 5, 2026, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The second part is scheduled for Diwali 2027. Sony Pictures will handle global distribution outside India, while Dharma Productions distributes the film in the Hindi-speaking market.
The family conversation matters because mythological casting carries a different weight: audiences, including children, arrive with their own idea of who these figures are. For Yash, the challenge is to be a convincing Ravana on screen without disturbing the way his son sees his father at home.
Source: Hindustan Times