Director Nitesh Tiwari’s mythological magnum opus Ramayana: Part One opened to packed theatres worldwide on Thursday, November 5, 2026, launching a historic box office run ahead of the extended Diwali holiday weekend.
Mounted on an unprecedented budget of Rs 1600 crore, the film holds the record as India’s most expensive cinematic production. Boosted by strong advance ticket sales and glowing early audience reviews, the film demonstrated immediate box office strength on its opening morning.
Record Advance Bookings & Day 1 Afternoon Figures
Pre-sales for the epic opened on Dussehra, 15 days prior to theatrical release, accelerating rapidly following distributor-exhibitor agreement resolutions last week:
- Worldwide Pre-Sales: The film amassed a staggering ₹200 crore in advance ticket sales globally, with India domestic markets accounting for over ₹120 crore prior to opening day.
- Day 1 Pre-Sales: Domestic advance bookings for Day 1 alone generated ₹45 crore gross.
- Afternoon Box Office Pace: By 2:00 PM IST on opening day, Ramayana registered ₹26.44 crore net across all language versions in India.
- Language Breakdown: The Hindi domestic belt spearheaded early figures, while the Telugu version showed solid performance. Despite Kannada superstar Yash featuring as Ravana, the Kannada Dub registered a moderate initial start at ₹3.22 crore, with Tamil and Malayalam dubs steadily building momentum.
Targeting Bollywood’s All-Time Opening Records
With solid advance bookings and high seat occupancy across metro circuits, Ramayana: Part One is projected to easily surpass the ₹70 crore net mark in India on Day 1. The opening day projection places Ramayana ahead of recent Bollywood openers such as Pathaan (₹57 crore), Drishyam 2 (₹62 crore), Animal (₹63 crore), and Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan (₹75 crore).
Industry trade analysts are closely monitoring whether evening and night show walk-ins can challenge the all-time opening day record set by Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar 2 (₹102 crore net).
Jointly produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios, DNEG, and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, the two-part saga features Ranbir Kapoor (Lord Rama), Yash (Ravana), Sai Pallavi (Sita), Ravie Dubey (Lakshman), and Sunny Deol (Lord Hanuman), with Part Two scheduled for Diwali 2028.