Ramayana’s sets already do 50-60% of an actor’s job

When an actor says half the work was done before they said a line, it is usually about a writer or a director. For Ramayana, Addinath M Kothare says it was the set. The actor, who plays Lord Bharat, told Filmfare that Nitesh Tiwari’s production built an Ayodhya so complete that the cast simply had to live in it.

The world arrives before the actor does

“We felt like we were in Ayodhya at that time,” Kothare said. “It was all there. They created everything around you, including your attire.” That immersion, he added, is not decorative. It changes the actor’s job.

Kothare put a number on it: for a performer, 50-60% of the job is already done. The remaining work is to be in character and in the moment. That is a useful measure of what production design can do. Instead of imagining a kingdom, the cast can experience one.

Why that matters for a story this big

Ramayana is not a small, contained drama. Kothare described it as an international project with international talent, and the story’s length and scale as different. The team is recreating something embedded in viewers’ hearts, he said, with characters whose values audiences have grown up on.

The risk with any epic is that scale overwhelms feeling. A set that surrounds the actor with the right costume, architecture and atmosphere reduces that risk. It lets performance begin from belief rather than effort.

• The physical world is already in place, so actors spend less energy pretending.
• Costume and atmosphere connect performers to the story’s values before the camera rolls.
• The actor’s attention can stay on character, not on the mechanics of the shot.

What to watch before November 5

Kothare also praised the makers. “It is very beautiful to work with such passionate makers,” he said. Ramayana is scheduled to open in theatres on November 5, 2026. The trailer and music reveals have already started the conversation.

For audiences, the real question is whether that Ayodhya feels alive on screen. For the cast, at least, half the work apparently walked in with the set.

Source: Filmfare