Not just two films! Ramayana universe to expand with spin-offs, games, theme parks and Broadway
New Delhi: Ranbir Kapoor and Yash’s Ramayana may begin with two films, but producer Namit Malhotra has much bigger plans for the franchise. Ahead of Ramayana Part 1‘s world premiere at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on October 27, the producer has revealed his vision to expand the Indian epic into a larger entertainment universe spanning films, spin-offs, games, merchandise, theme parks and immersive experiences.
Speaking at the film’s Telugu pre-release event on Monday (October 19), Namit said the ambition was never limited to adapting the Ramayana into one or two movies. Instead, he sees the upcoming film as the starting point for a much wider universe rooted in Indian mythology.
Namit Malhotra’s plans for Ramayana
Explaining the thought behind the project, Namit said, “The word Ramayana, as we all know, is really a philosophy. It is a word that we have grown up with. All of us have, from our fathers, our grandfathers, our multi-generations have known the story of an epic called the Ramayana. When we were conceiving this, this was not meant to be just a film. This was meant to be much more than that.”
He further revealed that the journey is intended to continue beyond the two Ramayana films already announced.
“The idea is not to make one or two movies and stop the journey of Rama. In fact, it is to start this journey. On the back of this movie, we can actually start to open up the different areas of engagement.”
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During the event, Namit also unveiled a behind-the-scenes video offering a glimpse at the scale planned for the franchise. According to the BTS video, the Ramayana universe could eventually extend to video games, merchandise such as apparel, toys, gadgets and home furnishings, as well as spin-offs, origin stories, television shows and animated films.
The larger roadmap also includes theme park experiences, a Broadway musical and immersive formats involving virtual reality, augmented reality and the metaverse.
Namit Malhotra compares Ramayana universe with Marvel
Namit also compared Ramayana with some of Hollywood’s biggest entertainment franchises, including Marvel, DC and Star Wars.
“When you hear stories about Star Wars, when you hear about Marvel or DC, the idea is that they’ve created what they call a universe. Ramayana is a universe. It is a universe in which we all live, in which we all interact and we all have different types of engagements,” he said.
“A lot of our time and effort went into educating them about what Ramayana really stands for. And for that, we had to tell them: this is bigger than anything you have. What people have in terms of Star Wars or DC and Marvel comics, which is fantastic, and all of us are big fans of, we can do it. But we have something that is even before all of that,” he added.
Namit also addressed comparisons between Indian mythological films and Hollywood productions, arguing that the Ramayana itself offers enough material to create a distinctive visual and storytelling world.
“From the art to the costumes, to the words, the characters, the creatures, the music, there is so much that is in the Ramayana. Fortunately, you don’t have to take inspiration from anything else,” he said.
“We were spending a lot of our time, effort and money to make sure that when we bring this to our children and to the next generation, this is something meaningful,” he added.
About Ramayana Part 1
Directed by Dangal filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. Yash is also co-producing the project through Monster Mind Creations. Sunny Deol plays Hanuman, while Ravie Dubey plays Lakshman. The ensemble also includes Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari and Arun Govil as King Dashrath.
Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman have composed the music for the film, while the screenplay has been adapted by Shridhar Raghavan and Nitesh Tiwari from the ancient epic attributed to Valmiki. Ramayana Part 1 will be released worldwide on November 5, 2026, and Part 2 on Diwali 2027.