Ramayana early reactions call Ranbir’s Rama pure, Yash a standout

First reactions from the LA premiere

Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: The Rise of a Legend had its first major screening at the David Geffen Theatre inside the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, and the early Letterboxd reactions are enthusiastic. Ranbir Kapoor’s Lord Rama is being praised as pure and understated, while Yash’s Ravana is repeatedly singled out as the performance that commands the screen. Sai Pallavi’s Sita has also drawn warm early mentions.

One five-star review said the film leaves audiences with a fresh feeling and praised the fight sequences for feeling new. Another viewer wrote that the film stayed true to its core, with emotions, music and visual effects all described as world-class. There is even talk of a post-credit Hanuman moment that keeps the face deliberately hidden, with Ranbir’s work appreciated and Yash described as dominant.

A first-time viewer, moved to tears

The most striking reaction so far comes from someone who said they had never watched an Indian film before. They walked in with only a basic idea that the story was drawn from Indian mythology, and they described being genuinely moved to tears by the end. In their words, the soundtrack felt “so divine,” and the characters came across as real and layered rather than distant figures from an old text.

That kind of response matters because this adaptation is designed for scale. A first-time viewer responding emotionally suggests the film is not relying only on cultural familiarity; it is working as cinema. The same review mentioned cheering at the climax and wanting to watch the film again with family.

Why the VFX praise is a big deal

Visual effects are central to this version of the Ramayana. One early reaction claimed that DNEG has shown it can compete with, or even surpass, ILM and WetaFX in certain fields. That is a strong statement for an Indian production, particularly one that is being positioned for a global theatrical audience.

Here is what stands out from the first reactions:

• Ranbir Kapoor’s Rama is landing as sincere and pure.
• Yash’s Ravana is the performance most viewers are calling dominant.
• The soundtrack and visual effects are drawing world-class praise.
• At least one first-time Indian-cinema viewer was moved to tears.

What early signals do and do not tell us

Premiere reactions tend to arrive from audiences most eager to love a film, so they should be read as a temperature check rather than a final verdict. At the same time, the consistency of the praise for Yash and the repeated mentions of emotional payoff are worth noting, because those are exactly the elements that often decide word of mouth for an epic.

For Hindi film fans, the next checkpoint is simple: wait for detailed reviews once the embargo lifts, and decide whether to catch this one on the largest screen available. The early signs suggest the spectacle is there.

The red carpet and the road to release

The Los Angeles premiere brought the leads together on the red carpet. Ranbir Kapoor wore a shimmery silver bandhgala and stopped for fans, Yash chose all black with an ornate Ravana brooch, and Sai Pallavi kept it classic in a red zardozi saree. The hall filled with Indian and international attendees, a sign of the film’s cross-border ambitions.

Ramayana: The Rise of a Legend opens in India on November 5. These first reactions are promising, but they are one enthusiastic sample. The wider test begins when the review embargo lifts and audiences outside a premiere setting get to judge the film for themselves.

Source: India Today