Ramayana trailer: Ranbir Kapoor, Yash clash in epic face-off

The international trailer of Ramayana: Rise of a Legend has given fans a fresh glimpse of Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Yash as Ravana, with the epic face-off drawing attention online.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the ambitious adaptation of the Indian epic also stars Sai Pallavi as Sita. The film features music by Oscar-winning composers AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer.

The 2-minute, 36-second English-language trailer offers new footage of the central conflict between Rama and Ravana, combining sweeping landscapes, dramatic confrontations and large-scale visual effects.

It opens with a narration describing a time when the world lived in harmony, before introducing Ravana as a powerful force threatening that order.

“Born from fire and fury, he bent the gods to his will and made the world his throne,” the narration says.

Yash’s Ravana then declares, “Before me, every head will bow,” setting the stage for the battle between the King of Lanka and Rama.

Ranbir’s portrayal of Rama is presented as that of a man confronting the weight of his destiny. Determined to stop Ravana, he says: “If this is my fate... I will not hesitate to destroy him. If I don't stop him... the world will fall.”

The trailer also features Kunal Kapoor as Lord Indra and closes with Ravana delivering a foreboding warning: “This is just... the beginning.”

Ranbir Kapoor addresses VFX criticism

The new trailer follows criticism of the film’s visual effects after the release of earlier footage. Some viewers questioned the computer-generated imagery, prompting discussion about the challenges of bringing an epic of this scale to the screen.

In an interview with Collider, Ranbir defended the work involved in creating the film’s visuals, pointing to the extensive effort required from artists and the production team.

He said he had seen Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra spend considerable time discussing visual effects, including details such as the colour of the sky.

Tiwari also highlighted the time needed to create some of the sequences, saying certain visual effects shots had taken between two-and-a-half and three years.

He acknowledged the difficulty of presenting a project of this scale to online audiences, where individual visual details can attract intense scrutiny.

The international trailer offers another glimpse of the film’s grand scale and its central battle between good and evil. Ramayana: Part One is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on November 5, 2026.