Ranbir Kapoor: India Did It 5,000 Years Ago

Days before Ramayana opens in theatres, Ranbir Kapoor has put the film’s most wondrous machine back in the spotlight. In a promotional interview, he connected the epic’s Pushpaka Vimana to a very modern invention, giving the two-part adaptation a neat cultural talking point.

The comparison that took off

During a Star Talks conversation ahead of the release, the host praised the film’s VFX and said the era’s weapons could rival modern inventions. Director Nitesh Tiwari said it was wonderful to reimagine those creations on screen. Ranbir then offered the line now doing the rounds:

Elon Musk recently invented a flying car. I think India did it 5,000 years ago!

His target was the Pushpaka Vimana, the self-propelled aerial chariot described in the Hindu epic. It appeared in the trailer as a vast flying structure, and it is one of the visuals audiences have been talking about most.

What the Pushpaka Vimana actually is

In Hindu mythology, the Vimana is not simply a vehicle; it is a flying palace. According to the epic, Vishwakarma built it for Lord Brahma, who gave it to Kubera, the god of wealth. Kubera was Ravana’s half-brother, and Ravana later seized the Vimana after defeating him.

• It travels at the speed of thought.
• It can expand to hold any number of passengers.
• It was reimagined on screen with visual effects by Academy Award-winning studio DNEG.

Why the quip works for the film

Ranbir’s line is playful, but it also does what a good Diwali release should do: it frames Ramayana as both a spectacle and a story rooted in Indian imagination. For Hindi film fans, it places the mythology in a language younger audiences already use—tech, innovation, and “look what we had first.”

The stakes are high. Nitesh Tiwari’s adaptation is a two-part big-screen version of the ancient epic. The first part arrives on November 5, timed with Diwali. Ranbir Kapoor stars as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman. The music comes from AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer, no less.

The takeaway

You don’t need to choose between mythology and modern tech chatter. The Pushpaka Vimana conversation gives viewers a memorable image to carry into the theatre, and it gives the film a hook that works beyond traditional promotional interviews. If the VFX lives up to the trailer, the flying palace may become the film’s most quoted frame—just behind Ranbir’s line.

Source: The Times of India