Artificial Intelligence1 min read

India's costliest film retells a beloved Hindu epic - but divides critics

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The ambitious production features Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, and Yash in leading roles under the direction of Nitesh Tiwari. Supporters like Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised the film's scale and spectacle, but other critics argued that excessive visual effects detracted from the narrative. Technical choices for foreign audiences faced particularly harsh scrutiny, notably the deployment of artificial intelligence to adjust actors' lip movements for the English-language version.

Key points

  • The production represents India's most expensive cinematic venture aimed directly at reac…: The production represents India's most expensive cinematic venture aimed directly at reaching a global theatrical market.
  • Critical consensus remains split over whether the massive visual effects enhance the epic…: Critical consensus remains split over whether the massive visual effects enhance the epic or overshadow its central narrative.
  • Technical adjustments using artificial intelligence for the English-language dub drew sha…: Technical adjustments using artificial intelligence for the English-language dub drew sharp criticism from international film reviewers.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

- Published

India's most expensive film - a lavish retelling of the Hindu epic Ramayana, made in two parts for a reported $500m - has opened in cinemas worldwide, sparking enormous expectations and mixed reviews.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is the first of two planned films, a sprawling production that brings together some of India's biggest stars, Hollywood visual-effects expertise and two Oscar-winning composers in an attempt to take one of the country's most revered stories to a global audience.

One of Hinduism's foundational epics, the Ramayana has travelled across centuries and continents, finding expression in poetry, temple sculpture, shadow puppetry, folk theatre and stories passed down through generations. It has outlasted kingdoms and empires, inspired religious devotion and political movements, and found new life, again and again, on TV and in cinema.

Tiwari's version returns to the familiar story of love, duty, exile and war, set in a world of gods and demons, celestial weapons and mighty kingdoms.

Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Ram, the virtuous prince of Ayodhya. Banished from his kingdom for 14…

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