On November 5, Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Part 1 opened in theatres around the world. According to trade estimates, its first day brought in ₹64.85 crore net in India and about ₹121.62 crore gross worldwide. Audiences in the Hindi-speaking states turned out in large numbers. The South, as the trade itself admits, did not.

Within hours, the old question was back. Is it faithful? Has it changed the Ramayanam? Indian cinema has been wrestling with this question for 109 years. Look honestly at that record, and the answer to "can a film change the Ramayanam?" turns out to be far more interesting than a yes or a no.

The touchstone: the Valmiki Ramayanam

Whoever tells the life of Sri Rama, and in whatever form, measures it against one touchstone: the Valmiki Ramayanam, the Adikavya. Over the centuries, this itihasa has been retold in almost every Indian language: the Kamba Ramayanam in Tamil, the Ranganatha Ramayanam and Molla Ramayanam in Telugu, the Adhyatma Ramayanam in Malayalam, the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi. Each poet added their own bhakti and the traditions of their own region.

Cinema inherited all of this. Many Ramayana films drew not only from the Valmiki Ramayanam but also from these later works, from folk traditions and from stage plays. That's why so many scenes we think of as "the Ramayanam" on screen aren't found in the Valmiki Ramayanam at all.

Where it began

Dadasaheb Phalke's silent film Lanka Dahan (1917) was one of the first Ramayana films. In it, the same actor, Anna Salunke, played both Sri Rama and Sita. It was Indian cinema's first double role. In Telugu, the first Lava Kusa (1934) earned ₹40,000, a record for early Telugu cinema.

When audiences embraced the changes

Ram Rajya (1943, Hindi)

Vijay Bhatt's film brought the events of the Uttara Kanda to the screen. Here, a washerman's words lead to Sita's exile. Sita takes shelter in Maharshi Valmiki's ashram under the name "Vandevi". Lava and Kusa capture the Ashvamedha horse and take on Rama's own army. The film ran for 88 weeks and was the third-biggest grosser of 1943. It was the only Indian film Mahatma Gandhi ever watched.

Sita Rama Kalyanam (1961)

NTR's first film as director. The title belongs to Sita and Rama, but the film belongs to Ravana. NTR played Ravana himself, as a great devotee of Shiva and an accomplished musician. Because Ravana was older than Rama, he cast the younger Haranath as Rama. In this film, Ravana comes to Sita's swayamvara and fails to lift Shiva's bow. The Valmiki Ramayanam has no such scene: there, Vishwamitra brings Rama to Janaka's court, where Rama strings and breaks the bow. The film still ran 50 days in all 28 centres where it released. Even today, a Telugu wedding without its song "Seetharamula Kalyanamu Chootamu Rarandi" is rare.

Lava Kusa (1963)

A milestone in Telugu cinema, and its first full-length colour film. It ran 100 days in all 26 centres where it released, 100 days in 62 centres overall, and 75 weeks without a break. It won the National Award for Best Telugu Feature Film.

This film also made two major changes. In the Valmiki Ramayanam, the people's whispers reach Rama in his court. Here, a washerman accuses Sita. And the scene where Lava and Kusa defeat Rama's army and tie up Hanuman comes from the later Jaimini Bharata. In the Valmiki Ramayanam, the two boys sing the Ramayanam at the Ashvamedha yagna. Audiences didn't mind. For a generation, NTR and Anjali Devi simply were Sita and Rama.

Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958, Tamil)

Released for the Tamil New Year, this film told the Ramayanam from Sri Rama's birth to his coronation. NTR played Rama, Padmini played Sita, and Sivaji Ganesan, in his first mythological role, played Bharata. This film made changes too. Ahalya comes back to life from stone at Rama's touch; in the Valmiki Ramayanam she never turns to stone, but lives invisible to all beings, sustained only by air. Ravana appears at Sita's swayamvara and fails to lift the bow, another scene the Valmiki Ramayanam doesn't contain. With Sivaji Ganesan in the role, Bharata's devotion to his elder brother became one of the film's most remembered threads. The film ran for more than 264 days and celebrated a silver jubilee. Rajaji, who rarely cared for cinema, praised it warmly, and Sivaji Ganesan's Bharata in particular.

Sampoorna Ramayanam (1972, Telugu)

Bapu's film stands out on this list for the opposite reason. Instead of reaching for later additions, it told the full life of Sita and Rama close to the Valmiki Ramayanam. What Bapu changed was not the narrative but the face of Rama. At a time when Telugu audiences saw NTR himself as Rama, Bapu cast Sobhan Babu, who had played Shatrughna in Lava Kusa nine years earlier. The announcement drew criticism from every side. The film cost about ₹17 lakh to make, when ₹6–7 lakh was considered a big budget.

Released on Ugadi, March 16, 1972, it overturned every expectation. It ran 100 days in ten centres, and became the first Telugu film to complete 100 days in a 70mm theatre in Andhra Pradesh. For the first time since Lava Kusa, villagers came to the cinema in bullock carts. NTR later arranged a special screening for himself and praised Sobhan Babu. The film proved that a retelling faithful to the source can win just as big.

Sri Rama Rajyam (2011, Telugu)

Four decades later, Bapu returned to the Ramayanam for his last film, a new version of Lava Kusa. It kept the two later additions that Lava Kusa had made beloved: the washerman's accusation that leads to Sita's exile, and the battle in which Lava and Kusa defeat Rama's army, which comes from the Jaimini Bharata rather than the Valmiki Ramayanam. With Balakrishna as Rama, Nayanthara as Sita, Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Maharshi Valmiki and music by Ilaiyaraaja, it was a commercial success and won seven Nandi awards.

The films that made changes all had one thing in common: their changes added to bhakti. The washerman's taunt made Rama's sacrifice more painful to watch. The battle with Lava and Kusa showed the boys' valour and Hanuman's devotion. In Sita Rama Kalyanam, Ravana's grandeur made Rama's victory loom even larger.

When critics applauded and audiences stayed home

Bapu's Seeta Kalyanam (1976) runs from Rama's birth to the swayamvara, woven together with tales of Vishnu's avatars and camera tricks that were new for the time. It was screened at the London and Chicago international film festivals and became part of the British Film Institute's coursework. At home, it struggled at the box office.

G. Aravindan's Malayalam film Kanchana Sita (1977) went further. Sita never appears on screen at all. Her presence is felt only through nature: in the forest, the wind and the water. The main roles are played by Rama Chenchu tribal people from Andhra Pradesh's forests. Bharata openly questions Rama for performing the yagna without Sita. Critics hailed the film as a masterpiece. Others accused Aravindan of blasphemy for casting tribal actors as the epic's heroes.

When the changes wounded

Raavan (2010)

Mani Ratnam brought echoes of the Ramayanam into the present day and told the story from Ravana's side. The "Ravana" figure is the sympathetic one; the "Rama" figure is a police officer. Made for ₹55 crore, the Hindi Raavan collected ₹39.37 crore and was declared a flop. The Tamil version, Raavanan, earned ₹65 crore. The same film got two very different verdicts from two audiences.

Adipurush (2023)

This was the biggest fall in the history of Ramayana films. The names Rama, Sita and Hanuman are never heard. They are "Raghav", "Janaki" and "Bajrang". Instead of the Pushpaka Vimana, Ravana flies on a giant bat. He ties Sita up with vines and carries her off. Jatayu looks like Garuda. Golden Lanka turns black. Indrajit is covered in tattoos. What hurt most was the street slang put in Hanuman's mouth. Critics also objected to showing Sri Rama, the embodiment of calm, as an angry god.

The verdict was swift. ₹86.75 crore on Day 1 fell to ₹4.85 crore by Day 7. Even a cut in ticket prices didn't bring audiences back. After the backlash, the makers rewrote the dialogue, and the writer retreated, saying the film was not based on the Ramayana, only inspired by it. In Nepal, the mayor of Kathmandu halted screenings in the city over a line calling Sita a "daughter of India". Made on an estimated ₹500–700 crore, the film stopped at around ₹350–450 crore.

The scenes we love that the Valmiki Ramayanam doesn't contain

This is where it gets surprising. Many scenes that generations have believed to be part of the Ramayanam are not in the Valmiki Ramayanam.

  • The Lakshmana Rekha: In the Aranya Kanda, Lakshmana goes looking for Rama after Sita insists. He draws no line. No Sanskrit Ramayana mentions it.
  • Ahalya turning to stone: In the Bala Kanda, Gautama's curse makes Ahalya invisible to all beings, living on air in penance. The stone first appears in Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha.
  • Shabari tasting the fruit first: In the Valmiki Ramayanam, Shabari offers Rama fruit. There's no mention of tasting it first.
  • The washerman's accusation: The people's words reach Rama in his court.
  • The battle of Lava and Kusa: This comes from the Jaimini Bharata.
  • Ravana at the swayamvara: The Valmiki Ramayanam has no such scene.

None of these caused a controversy. Audiences took them to heart, because every one of these changes made Sita, Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman even greater.

Where does Ramayana: Part 1 stand?

Nitesh Tiwari's film begins not with Sri Rama's birth but with Ravana's rise to power, and devotes a large share of its running time to Ravana's past. Reviews are divided on how far this strays from the source. One Telugu review argued that these portions draw on sources other than the Valmiki Ramayanam. It also pointed out that showing Rama uncertain of his purpose runs against the Valmiki Ramayanam, where Rama is never in doubt about his duty. Another review felt the film largely stays with the Valmiki Ramayanam while borrowing from other Ramayanams. A third found the long sequence between Ravana and Vidyutjihva, Shurpanakha's husband, to be the film's weakest stretch.

On the performances, there is broad agreement. Ranbir Kapoor is credited with capturing Rama as Maryada Purushottama, the ideal of restraint, and Yash's Ravana dominates many of the film's finest moments. The complaints are about length and sound. At 195 minutes, the film tests the audience's patience. And for all its scale, the background score by Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman leaves many viewers missing the devotional feeling they associate with the Ramayanam. The film ends shortly after Sita's abduction, and Sunny Deol's Hanuman is revealed only in its closing moments.

One fact is worth noticing. Adipurush's reported first day was bigger than Ramayana: Part 1's, and it still collapsed within a week. Day 1 numbers are not the verdict. What audiences feel in the second week is.

The one line no film can cross

Here is the irony: the Lakshmana Rekha isn't in the Valmiki Ramayanam. But for 109 years, audiences have drawn a line of their own. That line is Sri Rama's dignity.

Start the story wherever you like. Tell it from Ravana's side. Add folk traditions. Use new music and new technology. That's exactly what Lava Kusa, Sita Rama Kalyanam and Ram Rajya did. But if the changes make Rama smaller, mock Hanuman's devotion or diminish Sita's purity, audiences don't forgive. That's the lesson of Adipurush.

Which road Ramayana: Part 1 takes, only the coming days will tell. Have you seen it? Is it the Lava Kusa road or the Adipurush road? Share your view with us.