‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash in lead roles, is heading towards a potentially historic opening at the Indian box office, with its advance bookings showing strong momentum ahead of its theatrical release on Thursday, November 5.
‘Ramayana’ to cross Rs 100 crore mark in advance bookings
The film is already nearing the Rs 100 crore mark in advance bookings, with the film recording an estimated Rs 93.59 crore in advance bookings across six show dates, with the collection standing at Rs 74.69 crore after excluding blocked seats, as reported by Sacnilk.
‘Ramayana’ advance collections
Day 1 (Thursday, November 5) is leading the advance booking charts with Rs 38.27 crore, including Rs 32.41 crore without blocked seats. The film has also registered a healthy response for its opening weekend, with Friday’s advance collection standing at Rs 17.40 crore (Rs 13.57 crore without blocked seats), while Saturday has recorded Rs 19.48 crore (Rs 15.27 crore without blocked seats).Interestingly, the advance bookings for the Diwali holidays on Sunday and Monday are currently among the lowest across the six show dates. Sunday has registered Rs 13.20 crore (Rs 9.71 crore without blocked seats), while Monday’s collection stands at Rs 5.25 crore (Rs 3.72 crore without blocked seats).The film was originally scheduled to release on Diwali, November 8, before its release date was advanced to November 5.
Premium formats contribute 15% to Day 1 collections
Premium formats are accounting for a significant share of the film’s opening-day advance bookings. They have contributed Rs 5.60 crore (Rs 5.21 crore without blocked seats) from just 390 shows, representing approximately 15% of the Day 1 gross despite accounting for only 2% of the shows.
Hindi shows record highest bookings
Hindi is leading the language-wise advance bookings, contributing 77% of the film’s Day 1 gross. The original Hindi version has collected Rs 29.32 crore (Rs 24.56 crore without blocked seats) from 19,463 shows.The strong response for the Hindi version comes amid early reviews recommending that audiences watch the original Hindi film rather than its dubbed versions. Reports have pointed to a shorter runtime for the dubbed English version, with certain scenes reportedly not making the final cut. The use of AI-generated lip movements in the dubbed version has also reportedly not gone down well with some viewers.Meanwhile, the film’s standard 3D shows are significantly ahead of the standard 2D screenings. The 3D format has recorded Rs 22.78 crore (Rs 19.35 crore without blocked seats), compared to Rs 9.68 crore (Rs 7.65 crore without blocked seats) from standard 2D shows.
Karnataka leads state-wise advance bookings
Karnataka is currently the top-performing state for ‘Ramayana’ on Day 1, contributing Rs 6.86 crore (Rs 6.13 crore without blocked seats). Maharashtra follows with Rs 6.41 crore (Rs 5.26 crore without blocked seats), while Delhi has registered Rs 4.69 crore (Rs 3.86 crore without blocked seats).With these numbers, ‘Ramayana’ is heading towards a potentially historic opening in India, challenging the long-standing belief that the days immediately preceding Diwali are unfavourable for major theatrical releases.
‘Ramayana’ overseas advance booking crosses USD 5.65 million
The film is also witnessing a strong response in international markets. As reported by Films Discourse, the ‘Ramayana’ overseas advance bookings stood at USD 5.65 million across all show dates. North America, comprising the US and Canada, is leading the international markets with USD 4.24 million in advance sales.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ postpones India release to avoid ‘Ramayana’ clash
Meanwhile, ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ has officially postponed its Indian theatrical release from November 6 to November 20, thus avoiding a direct box office clash with ‘Ramayana’.Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the film is scheduled to open in Japan on November 3 and in North America on November 6. However, Indian audiences will have to wait an additional two weeks to watch the film in theatres, allowing ‘Ramayana’ an exclusive two-week window in the Indian market.
