in a fascinating conversation, Director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra spoke exclusively with IMDb at the San Diego Comic-Con about the making of Ramayana. They delved into the decision of splitting the story into two parts, shared the toughest hurdles of a decade-long dream, and also revealed the sequences audiences can expect, when Ramayana: Part 1 releases this Diwali.
Explaining the decision to split the film, Tiwari revealed that a three-part structure was seriously considered before being ruled out. “We would not have done justice to the total story of Ramayana if we had done it in one part… we thought about doing three parts also, but what was happening in doing that is we were only left with wars in part 3, and emotions are core for Ramayana,” he said.
Asked about the single biggest hurdle in bringing his decade-long dream to scale, Malhotra said there wasn’t just one. “It’s thousands of years of Ramayana’s existence, over 100 years of the Indian film industry’s existence… from the casting, who could really embody Lord Rama, to how do we bring it to scale, how do we make it for the world, the list is endless.” he said.
He also spoke candidly about setbacks along the way. “We’ve had casting changes, we’ve had budget issues, and all of it has sort of ended up in a better place than from where we started. It’s unprecedented. Sometimes I look back and think, ‘how did I do this?’” he said.
On financing, Malhotra credited creative control to self-funding. “Fortunately, we put up our own money, so for us it’s not been about going and seeking approvals and budget approvals from other people… When we started, everybody would ask me, including the actors, ‘do you have the money? How are you gonna do it?’ And I’m like, it’ll happen. We will find a way,” he said.
Tiwari also picked out the film’s most emotional scene – Lord Ram’s exile, as the one he’d choose to spotlight. “He is destined to become the king, and as destiny has it, he is summoned to go for an exile of 14 years. And the scene is where he’s leaving, with his wife and his brother, taking leave from his parents in the courtroom, and when he steps out of the palace, the whole city has come, they are stopping the chariot, they don’t want him to go. He’s the most beloved prince they had. That particular scene is very emotional,” he said.
Image Courtesy of DNEG
Teasing the action set pieces ahead, Tiwari pointed to two standout sequences from the second half of Part One. “One is where Ravana fights with Jatayu…Now, Jatayu is the protective king of birds. Jatayu comes to protect and fights Ravana to save Sita. That’s a very exciting part,” he said, adding, “There is another section where Rama fights with an army of 14,000 Rakshasas in the jungle. That is something which is truly extraordinary. Rama discovers, probably, at that time, that he is the one chosen for a certain cause.”
Malhotra, meanwhile, spoke about the technological scale of the production. “We’ve had multiple types of technologies, multiple actors, crew all playing together, so it’s, some of those days have been really exciting.” He also said, “You got actors, directors from all over the world, all coming together with, you know, hundreds of people, you know, all lining up and doing some really cool stuff. That sort of a day is like, man, how is this even happening?”
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