Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash’s big scale epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend (also known as Ramayana Part 1) finally hit theatres on 5 November 2026, just ahead of Diwali. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film carries a reported combined budget of around ₹4,000 crore for both parts (including post production and global promotions), making it one of the most ambitious projects ever mounted in Indian cinema.
Part 1 alone is estimated in the range of ₹1,600–2,000 crore by various trade reports. On its opening day the film collected a solid ₹77.50 crore gross in India. Worldwide gross stood at approximately ₹127.50 crore, with overseas contributing around ₹50 crore. It was screened across roughly 25,200 shows and registered an overall occupancy of about 36 percent. Night shows performed stronger, touching nearly 49 percent occupancy in places.
Language-wise Day 1 India gross breakdown
- Hindi: ₹57 crore (from 20,678 shows) – the clear backbone
- Kannada: ₹8.70 crore (1,197 shows)
- Telugu: ₹7.05 crore (1,776 shows)
- Tamil: ₹3 crore
- Malayalam: ₹1.75 crore
Hindi alone contributed the bulk of the domestic total. The film sold an estimated 25+ lakh tickets on Day 1.
Advance booking had already shown strong interest, with pre-sales for the opening day crossing healthy figures (including and excluding block seats depending on the cut off). Final Day 1 numbers settled a little below the most bullish trade expectations of a much bigger opening, but still delivered one of the bigger gross starts of 2026 and a personal best opening for Ranbir Kapoor.
The Hindi belt did the heavy lifting while the South versions, particularly Telugu, came in lower than many large-scale pan-India films. Word of mouth and the upcoming festive weekend will now decide how much further it climbs. For a film of this scale and cost, the long run and overseas legs remain crucial.
Early audience response has been largely positive on the scale, visuals and performances, which should help holds over the long Diwali weekend. More updates will follow as Day 2 and weekend figures come in.