Three filmmakers have joined hands to make the epic as a live-action Rs 500-crore feature film
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 10, 2017)

Hindi cinema is getting ready for another epic reign. Mirror has learnt that in a development on Tuesday, three producers, Allu Aravind, Namit Malhotra and Madhu Mantena have joined hands to bring the Ramayana to the big screen. The liveaction feature will be a Hindi, Telugu and Tamil trilingual, being hyped as India’s most ambitious project yet with an estimated budget of Rs 500-crore. It will be shot in 3D and released as a three-part series.

Confirming the development Allu Aravind told Mirror, “It’s a huge responsibility but the Ramayana needs to be told on the big screen in the most magnificent way possible. We are committed to delivering a spectacular extravaganza.” The Tollywood producer has made films like Ghajini and Magadheera. Madhu and him collaborated on Ghajini.

According to a source close to the development the trio has been working on the script for over a year. “They realised that the epic hasn’t been presented on the big screen for many years now, not since Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan with Arun Govil and Deepika Chikhalia as Ram and Sita was telecast on Doordarshan in 1987-88, followed by another adaption of the epic by Sagar Arts in 2008 with Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee in the lead. They wanted to bring the epic to the big screen this time,” adds the source.

Namit Malhotra asserts that he has always aspired to raise the bar in our cinema. His company, Prime Focus, has handled the stereo conversion and visual effects of big budget franchises like Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Transformers, X-Men: Apocalypse and The Martian. Namit, who is associated with this film in a personal capacity says, “Three generations of my family have been in the movies and we have a world-leading capability in bringing such stories to life. There cannot be a better time and opportunity to tell the greatest Indian story to the world in a way that preserves its respect and vision. The partnership with Allu sir and Madhu has aligned me with the best partners who share the same vision and passion to make this a cinematic experience all Indians can be proud of.”