Prateek Tanmay
2 min readMumbaiJul 7, 2026 01:00 PM IST
As the first part of Nitesh Tiwari’s adaptation of Indian epic Ramayana nears its worldwide release in cinemas this Diwali in October, co-producers — Namit Malhotra’s DNGE and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations — have struck a deal with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions to distribute the film across India. The two-part film is reportedly being made for Rs 4,000 crore.
Dharma Productions to distribute Ramayana in India
Dharma Productions got a massive investment a couple of years ago when Adar Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of India acquired a 50% stake in the production house for Rs 1000 crore. Dharma Productions has been instrumental in distributing tentpole pan-India films like SS Rajamouli’s Telugu action fantasy epic franchise Baahubali, Sankalp Reddy’s 2017 Telugu period war drama The Ghazi Attack, S Shankar’s 2018 Tamil sci-fi action film 2.0, and Koratala Siva’s 2024 Telugu action drama Devara: Part 1.
As per Variety India, Malhotra showed a 30-minute edited footage of Ramayana to prospective distributors. After initiating a dialogue with Dharma Productions, which began from a staggering Rs 500 crore, the deal finally boiled down to its half, Rs 250 crore, for sole distribution across India.
More about Ramayana
Billed as “the most anticipated Indian film of this year” as per IMDb, Ramayana: Part 1 stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, Arun Govil as Dasharatha, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari, Vivek Oberoi as Vidyutjiva, Rakul Preet Singh as Surapanakha, Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara, Indira Krishnan as Kausalaya, and Kunal Kapoor as Indra among others.
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Oscar-winning composers AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer are joining forces to lend the score to the film. While part 1 of Ramayana has finished filming and is currently under post-production, the second part is undergoing pre-production. Last month, exhibitor and film trade analyst Vishek Chauhan predicted that only the two-part Ramayana could dismantle the Rs 3300 crore+ worldwide box office record set by Aditya Dhar’s spy thriller franchise Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh, earlier this year.
