Nitesh Tiwari has shared new details about his upcoming film Ramayana. He explained that the character of Ravana will not be shown as just a villain. Instead, the film will present a more complete picture of Ravana’s personality, including both his strengths and weaknesses.
The role of Ravana will be played by Yash. According to the director, the character will highlight how Ravana was not only powerful but also talented and knowledgeable. He spoke about this during the teaser launch event in Los Angeles, where he said, “See, Ravana had so many aspects to his life. He was a great warrior, he was an accomplished musician, a scholar, a benevolent king… a great Shiva devotee. There was so much to him than just being a black character.”
He further explained the idea behind this approach. “… It’s very important for us to showcase all these bits and aspects of Ravana because there’s a very important lesson which is hiding in them. You can have all these great qualities, but if you are governed by vengeance and if you are driven by ego, then you know what the end result is going to be. There’s a great lesson out there.” This shows that the film aims to present Ravana as a complex character rather than a one dimensional figure.
At the same event, Ranbir Kapoor also spoke about Yash’s role. He said, “Yash, of course, he has the stardom that he has. To play Ravana, you need somebody who has that aura and screen presence. His interpretation of Ravana is very different from what we have seen over the years. I think that’s something which the audiences will really enjoy watching on the big screen.”
Interestingly, Yash is also working as a producer on the film. He had earlier spoken about this in April 2025, saying, “It has been my long term aspiration to make films that will showcase Indian cinema on a global level. In pursuit of that, I was in LA to ally with one of the best VFX studios, and to my amazement, the driving force behind it was a fellow Indian.”
He added, “Namit and I had various ideation sessions, and coincidentally, our synergy on the vision for Indian cinema aligned perfectly. We brainstormed various projects, and during these discussions, the subject of ‘Ramayana’ came up. Namit had a part of it in the works.”
The film features a large cast including Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The first part of Ramayana is planned for release during Diwali 2026, while the second part is scheduled for Diwali 2027.