The first private US screening of the English-dubbed version of Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has left early viewers split. The screening produced a 3.5-star Letterboxd rating from a senior booker, and while the praise and criticism come from one person, they arrive just as the film’s overseas advance booking crosses a meaningful number.
According to Filmibeat, Priya Mathew, a senior booker from Brooklyn, shared her reaction on X after the private screening. She called the English dubbing a “major disappointment” and said the visual effects were impressive in places but could feel “a little cartoonish.” Her bigger issue was with casting: she wrote that Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Ram, was “miscast.”
Mathew was careful to separate the visual effects from the debate around AI. The problem, she said, was not that the imagery is AI-generated; it just looked fake or cartoonish in some moments. Her strongest praise went to what she called the emotional core of the story, and to AR Rahman’s music.
What the early review found
- Visuals: The VFX has scale, and much of it works, but some shots looked cartoonish rather than real.
- Music: AR Rahman’s songs were beautiful in the English cut, though not full-length like a standard Hindi film.
- Casting: Ranbir Kapoor drew the sharpest note, with Mathew calling the Lord Ram casting a mistake.
A high-stakes multilingual release
The early word lands on one of the most expensive Indian films ever attempted. Ramayana is co-produced by Yash, who plays Ravan, and is reported to carry a budget of ₹4,000 crore. It brings Ranbir Kapoor back to the screen for the first time since Animal, alongside Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol, Anupam Kher and a large ensemble. The film opens on November 5 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, with plans to dub it in 40 languages worldwide.
Overseas advance booking: $1.42 million and counting
Even before the review conversation settles, the pre-release business is moving. Overseas advance bookings have reached $1.42 million, about ₹13.4 crore, across six countries for all days, according to a LiveMint report. That is a solid early marker for a film of this scale, though still a long way from the final opening-weekend picture.
What this early signal does and doesn’t tell us
One English-dub screening is a sample, not a verdict. The edit, mix and dubbing can differ across language versions, and a review of the English cut cannot speak for the Hindi original. But early reactions set the tone for conversation around a title this size. Fans do not need to overcorrect either way: watch the cut in the language you plan to see, and let the advance booking be a separate, quieter signal of demand.
Source: Filmibeat