Mahakavya Producer Alleges Negative Marketing, Plans Re-Release

Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha is heading back to cinemas. Producer Prakash Mahobiya says the film’s first theatrical run ended before it could connect with enough viewers, and he is now planning a second release rather than letting the chatter be the final word.

Mahobiya, a first-time producer, told India Today that the experience has been a crash course in how perception shapes a release. The film, starring Anjali Arora, Dev Sharma and Rajneish Duggal, was announced before the high-profile Ramayan project that now occupies the conversation.

Allegations of organised negative buzz

Mahobiya said the film faced what he called “negative marketing throughout.” His claim is that negative comments were circulated among YouTubers and influencers, and that the team believes competition around the Ramayan subject may have played a role.

He stopped short of directly accusing the team behind the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Ramayan. Asked about Nitesh Tiwari and Namit Malhotra, he said, “I don’t know for sure, but that’s what we are being told.”

The producer’s central frustration is straightforward: the people who watched the film enjoyed it, but many others never got the chance to form their own opinion.

A second chance without reshoots

Mahobiya says feedback from audiences in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh was positive. He added that his priority is now giving the film another opportunity in cinemas rather than focusing on the financial loss from its first outing.

• No reshoots are planned at this stage.
• The film will return largely in its current form.
• A new release date is yet to be decided, but the team says a complete plan is ready.

“I have made a film for the first time, and I am new to this industry. I have no idea how to market a film after making it,” Mahobiya said. That inexperience sits at the centre of the re-release decision: if the first outing suffered from a negative perception, a second run is his way of letting the film be judged on watching.

Why the second run matters

The row is a reminder that a smaller film’s fate can be shaped before most audiences step into a hall. With several Ramayan-linked projects in conversation, Mahobiya is asking film fans to separate the buzz from the work itself. For film fans, the chance to watch a title they may have skipped gives the film a fairer test than a fleeting first run.

He also acknowledged the distance between his film and the landmark version many grew up with. “You cannot make a Ramanand Sagar Ramayan,” he said, adding that his aim was to make a film celebrating what the team witnessed on screen as children.

No date has been announced, but the return will test whether a fresh conversation around the film can change its box-office luck.

Source: India Today