Ranbir Kapoor Says Ramayana’s VFX Backlash Mistakes Years of Work for AI

Kapoor also said it is now tricky to impress audiences with authentic CG, according to Mashable India. He is right about the mood. Viewers have seen enough digital spectacle to spot weak weight, bad light and empty scale. They also have enough AI anxiety to mistrust any image that looks too polished or too strange. Ramayana is walking straight into that suspicion.

Photos: DNEG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source 1, source 2

Tiwari And Malhotra Ask For The Big Screen Test

Outlook India reported that Malhotra argued viewers were judging the footage on phones and poor internet connections, rather than in the format intended by the filmmakers. He also said the team was spending millions of dollars on the project and wanted the visuals to be assessed fairly.

Malhotra’s other point matters more: Outlook India reported that he said the VFX was not complete. That is common for major films, which start marketing while post-production is still moving. It is also a dangerous thing to ask audiences to keep in mind, because trailers are not private work files. Once released, they become the film’s handshake with the public.

Tiwari, for his part, told Collider that the team was still adding final touches, according to Outlook India. Mashable India reported him saying some VFX sequences had taken two-and-a-half to three years. He also said that when someone is set on nitpicking, the smallest mistake can be amplified while the best effort is ignored.

There is frustration in that answer, and it is easy to understand. It is also the deal now. A film this large does not get a quiet first look. It gets freeze-frames, zooms, comparison threads and instant verdicts.

The Scale Is Enormous, And That Raises The Bar

Variety reported that Ramayana is a two-part adaptation of the ancient Hindu epic, directed by Tiwari, with Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana. The trailer sets up Rama’s exile, Sita’s abduction and the larger war between righteousness and evil, according to Variety.

Variety also reported that both parts were filmed for IMAX and that the two films together are budgeted at about $500 million. DNEG is handling the visual effects, according to Variety, while Outlook India noted the company’s Oscar-winning work on films including Inception, Interstellar and the first two Dune films.

The music is another giant signal. Variety reported that Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman share score duties. Mashable India listed the larger cast, including Ravi Dubey, Sunny Deol, Rakul Preet Singh, Arun Govil, Kajal Aggarwal, Vivek Oberoi, Shobana, Kunal Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Sheeba Chaddha, Indira Krishnan, Anupam Kher and others.

A film like this invites awe and suspicion at once. The more money, names and mythic weight attached to it, the less patience people have for anything that looks unfinished. Kapoor, Tiwari and Malhotra are asking for time. Viewers are asking for images that can survive the first look.

What Comes Next For Ramayana

The release plan is part of the argument. Mashable India reported that Part 1 is scheduled for theatrical release on November 8, 2026, with Part 2 due during Diwali 2027. Outlook India reported the first part for Diwali 2026 and the second for 2027. Variety reported that Sony Pictures is handling international distribution outside India, while Dharma Productions has India.

The trailer has already done what a trailer must do: it made the film unavoidable. The harder task is still ahead. Ramayana has to make its digital heavens and battlefields feel lived in, not lacquered. It has to make viewers stop inspecting the frame and start believing in it.

For now, the strongest defense from the team is also the simplest one: the film is not finished, it was made for a much larger screen, and some of those shots have been worked on for nearly three years.