Blondewala Bollywood: ‘Ramayana’ First Look

Updated 2 weeks ago, July 3, 2025

Hi, I’m Nicole—a thirty-something Bollywood fanatic and entertainment writer, and while I don’t officially have any desi heritage, my Spotify playlists might have you fooled. From Piggy Chops’ infamous leather jacket to Kangana’s many feuds, I Iive for the celebrity gossip, and whether this latest wave of nepo-kids turns Koffee With Karan into Oolong With Orry, I’m committed to watching it all play out.

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The first look at Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana is officially here

We’ve had a bit of a lull from the younger generation of established big-name stars since they all paired up and got married. Vicky-Katrina, Ranveer-Deepika, Ranbir-Alia have been keeping a relatively low radar in terms of film output (with the exception of Vicky’s viral “Tauba Tauba” moment).

But the tides might finally be turning for Ranbir Kapoor now that the first look at Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana has been released today. He’s making a hard pivot from 2023’s Animal, a kind of John Wick meets The Godfather hyper-masculine bloodbath chock-full of Daddy issues. So how does Kapoor jump from underworld king pin to playing Lord Ram? Well, apparently by shaving, for one. The first look doesn’t give us a clear view of Kapoor’s full face, but it’s at least official studio content instead of the AI-generated images that have been circulating social media for months.

We also get our first look at Yash as Ravana, sporting, from what we can see, only one head instead of ten, but who knows what CGI surprises might lie in store. And don’t forget we’re still waiting to see Sai Pallavi as Sita, Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Amitabh Bachchan as Jatayu, and Vivek Oberoi as Vidyutjihva.

Producer Madhu Mantena, who has been tied to the project since 2017, expressed a desire to cast the film with artists from around the country, saying “[Ramayana] is not about North and South, it’s about unifying the country. We are doing this as India.” These bold sentiments are echoed in the first look, where super-imposed text quantifies the “immortal” story “worshipped for 5,000 years by 2.5 billion people” and finally qualifies Ramayana as “Our truth. Our history.”

It remains to be seen how the public responds to both the marketing and the film. Will Malhotra’s adaptation bypass demonization or racialization of Ravana and embrace versions of the tale that highlight his strengths and Rama’s flaws? Will India’s Muslim, Sikh, and Christian audiences come to theaters to join in that all encompassing “Our” touted on-screen? Will Kapoor be convincing as the embodiment of sacrifice and dharma the film is aiming for?

Unfortunately, we won’t know until November of next year, when the first of back to back Diwali releases hits theaters. But we can hope for more teasers and trailers to come, ideally with some samples of Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman’s joint composition, which marks Zimmer’s first Indian production. So even if the film is complete bakwas, we can still get a good soundtrack out of it.

Until then, check out the first look for yourself below: