Ranbir Kapoor, Nitesh Tiwari, Ravie Dubey and Namit Malhotra took Ramayana: Part One out of the screening room and into classrooms before its release. A special conversation with nearly 20,000 students from more than 500 schools across 18 cities has been turned into Har Yug Mein Ram: A Conversation with Young Leaders, streaming exclusively on JioHotstar from November 1.
From 500 schools to one special episode
The event was organised by JioHotstar with the makers of Ramayana and the International Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (I.I.M.U.N.). About 150 student leaders attended in person at I.I.M.U.N.’s Mumbai headquarters, while thousands more joined virtually from their schools. The conversation explored the epic’s themes of duty, courage, friendship, love, forgiveness and sacrifice.
Students did not just listen. They questioned the team about:
- Who the true hero of the Ramayana is.
- What they would ask Lord Rama.
- Which character they would choose as a friend.
- Whose journey—Rama’s, Sita’s or Lakshman’s—feels most challenging.
That framing turns a familiar epic into a conversation about choices rather than a retelling.
What the team said
Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Rama, said stepping into the role has been "an incredibly humbling experience," and that hearing students engage with Rama’s story in their own way was the highlight. Director Nitesh Tiwari said the story works because "alongside its larger-than-life moments, its characters face deeply human choices and emotions." Ravie Dubey, who plays Lakshman, said the students gave him "new perspectives on his character."
Producer Namit Malhotra linked the classroom event to the big-screen adaptation, saying it matters that young people "discover these values and find their own connection."
Why this lands four days before release
The timing is deliberate. The special drops on November 1; Ramayana: Part One opens worldwide on November 5 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, including IMAX 3D. For JioHotstar, the episode offers a subscriber-facing window into the film without waiting for the post-theatrical on-demand release. For the film, it builds a final-week conversation with exactly the younger audience a new adaptation needs.
The film is adapted by Shridhar Raghavan from Valmiki’s Ramayana and produced by Prime Focus Studios in association with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The cast includes Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman.
For viewers who grew up with the epic, this is also a chance to hear the central cast think through the characters before the film’s interpretation lands. It is not a trailer or a making-of; it is a discussion of the text underneath the spectacle. Fans can treat November 1 as the primer and November 5 as the main event. After the theatrical window, the film will be available on JioHotstar as an on-demand purchase.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com