New Delhi, Nov 3 Think “Avatar”, “Avengers” or “The Odyssey”. That’s “Ramayana” producer Namit Malhotra’s answer when asked the inevitable question — why make a new rendition of a story that is so loved, so familiar and so intertwined into the consciousness of virtually every Indian.
With a rumoured budget of Rs 4,000 crore for the two-part series — Malhotra has never confirmed it — the first part of the much discussed “Ramayana” releases on Thursday, just three days ahead of Diwali on Sunday.
As speculation builds up, Malhotra says his ambition is to bring the story of Lord Rama to the big screen on an unprecedented scale, with 3D and IMAX technology and a budget comparable to Hollywood spectacles such as “The Lord of the Rings”.
“In India, there are a lot of questions that ‘Why are they making the Ramayana when there’s been so many Ramayanas? We already know the story.’ And I’m like, ‘Listen, we’re making it because we want to show you the version of this story that you’ve never seen.’
“No television show, no street play, no Ram Leela has ever shown you ‘Ramayana’ in this scale and spectacle that we are making…Much like an ‘Avatar’ or an ‘Avengers’ movie or think about ‘Spider-Man’ or ‘The Odyssey’… We’re putting Ramayana right up there next to all of those spectacles,” Malhotra told PTI in an interview.
The filmmaker, whose producing credits include Ayan Mukerji’s “Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva” and the Hollywood film “The Garfield Movie”, has backed the two-part cinematic adaptation of Valmiki’s epic poem through his studio Prime Focus Studios in association with Oscar-winning VFX studio DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations.
Malhotra is the global CEO of DNEG that has won eight Academy Awards for “Inception”, “Interstellar”, “Ex Machina”, “Blade Runner 2049”, “First Man”, “Tenet”, “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two”.
His latest project “Ramayana”, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman.
With this film, Malhotra wants to make a case that India can also produce a grand spectacle movie.
“If you think about the West, they are the most potent audience for anything that’s got a grand epic spectacle. And that’s just not how Indian films have been made. So while India makes terrific Indian movies, whether it is ‘Baahubali’, ‘Dhurandhar’ or any of the big, super duper hit films, they are not spectacles the way Hollywood thinks about spectacles.
“We are first trying to narrow that gap down and saying, ‘If you can do it, we can do it too.’ There’s no reason for us to have any discrepancy. So, every person in Hollywood should acknowledge that India can also do something as good, if not bigger, than what they do.”
Malhotra said he also hopes to introduce Western audiences to the story of Ramayana, which is considered one of India’s greatest epics.
“Just imagine I’m standing here and saying, ‘You guys know ‘The Odyssey’, ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Harry Potter’, and ‘Star Wars’, but do you know that Ramayana came before all of these great epics?
“And it’s not trying to copy or borrow from you. In fact, it’s an original story. It’s original characters, an original world that has been envisioned. So they are excited about it. And that’s why I think that the opportunity to connect with the audience is very exciting,” said the producer, who held a grand world premiere of the movie in the US last week.
The movie was screened at the David Geffen Theatre at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
“The biggest thing I feel right now is gratitude because, to me, the fact that we have a film industry for over 100 years, and I get to have this golden opportunity to produce Ramayana and to present it to the world like never before, is unbelievable.
“There are generations of filmmakers that have come before me that are brilliant in what they’ve done in India. But a ‘Ramayana’ like this has never been made by any Indian filmmaker in the world. And I get to be that person today. It’s like Sachin Tendulkar getting picked to play the World Cup on his debut,” he said.
While anticipation around “Ramayana” continues to build, the film’s promotional campaign has been marked by a series of controversies, ranging from criticism of its music and visual effects to scrutiny of lead star Kapoor.
The song “Mangal Rang” faced backlash from sections of listeners with some objecting to the Sufi-inspired elements, while the film’s first glimpse drew sharp criticism online over its VFX and visual treatment.
Kapoor recently found himself at the centre of social media trolling after a verbal slip at a Dussehra event in Kolkata. He apologised a day later.
Asked who he is most accountable to, Malhotra said it is his mother who comes before anyone else.
“Ramayana begins in each of our homes, literally starts from the day we are born. And for me, my interest in the Ramayana and my love for Lord Ram literally comes from my mother… Critics, jury, everybody’s out there. But for me as somebody who gave me birth, she is the one who has been the biggest believer of Lord Ram,” he said.
The first litmus test, Malhotra said, is whether or not his mother likes the movie and feels proud of him.
“Obviously, she comes first and then the people of India because that’s who this belongs to,” he added.
Malhotra also has a message for audiences.
“What people have to understand is that never in the history of India or Hollywood has an individual picked up an original film concept, put in that much of their own personal money and effort to bring something so original to the world… So I hope people appreciate that effort and that commitment to what we’re doing,” he said.
According to early reviews, the first part of “Ramayana” charts the rise of Ravana, moves to the birth of Lord Rama, his marriage to Sita and their eventual exile. It concludes with Ravana abducting Sita.
The second part, expected in a year, reportedly follows Rama’s quest to rescue Sita from Lanka.
(PTI News)
