Ramayana gets 50,000-screen global push from Sony

Ramayana: Part 1 is stepping onto the world stage. Producer Namit Malhotra said on social media that Sony Pictures will begin its international campaign for Nitesh Tiwari’s epic from tomorrow — and the rollout is being framed as a global cinematic event, not a niche diaspora release.

The studio will distribute the film across about 50,000 screens in international markets, and an English-language trailer has already been prepared for viewers who may be meeting the story for the first time.

What the campaign will do

The announcement positions Ramayana as a story from India that deserves the biggest possible platform. Malhotra wrote that the team’s dream was always to take one of India’s greatest stories to the world, and that the next step begins tomorrow.

• Distributor: Sony Pictures
• International screen count: about 50,000
• Film: Ramayana: Part 1
• Overseas release date: November 5, 2026, Diwali
• Part 2: planned for Diwali 2027

Why the global push matters

A Diwali date is a smart anchor. South Asian audiences already plan around the festival, and a well-timed global release can convert that cultural moment into a worldwide moviegoing event. With 50,000 international screens, the ambition is clearly to move beyond familiar audiences and invite first-time viewers into the story.

The English trailer is the key tool for that handshake. It lets the film build curiosity before regional-language materials arrive, and it signals that the campaign is being built for audiences who have no prior relationship with the epic. That is a different posture from simply serving the Indian diaspora; it is a bid for the mainstream global multiplex.

The cast and story at the centre

Nitesh Tiwari directs a cast that includes Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. The ensemble also features Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Vivek Oberoi, Rakul Preet Singh, Sheeba Chaddha, Indira Krishnan, Kajal Aggarwal, Shobana and Kunal Kapoor.

Producer Namit Malhotra signed the announcement alongside Tiwari and Yash, closing with the line, “From India to the world.” It is a short phrase, but it carries the campaign’s entire positioning: this is not just a Hindi film travelling abroad; it is being presented as an Indian story with universal scale.

What to watch from tomorrow

For fans, the immediate step is simple: find the English trailer and watch how Sony frames the characters for a new audience. The next marker is the November 5 Diwali opening, and the make-or-break question is whether Ramayana can translate a timeless local story into a global one without losing its cultural centre.

If the first part works, Part 2 already has a Diwali 2027 slot waiting — which makes this campaign less of a one-off push and more of a long-term franchise audition for Indian mythology on the world stage.

Source: The Times of India