Ramayan arrived in theatres with the weight of a nation’s expectations on its shoulders, and while the opening is undeniably big, it hasn’t quite touched the lofty mark that trade circles had hoped for. The Ranbir Kapoor and Yash starrer collected Rs. 62.47 crores across all languages on its first day, a figure that sounds enormous on paper but sits below the three-figure start many had predicted after the buzz around advance bookings.
The real story of the day, though, is the Hindi belt. The Hindi version raked in Rs. 45.46 crores, which accounts for approximately 72.77 percent of the film’s total haul. In simple words, nearly three out of every four rupees that came in on Friday came from Hindi audiences, making the language the film’s backbone and doing the heavy lifting for the mythological epic.
The other versions, expectedly, have contributed far less. Kannada, which gets a boost thanks to Yash’s massive fan following in the state, brought in Rs. 7 crores. Telugu followed with Rs. 6.22 crores, a decent but not spectacular number for a market that usually turns out in strength for large-scale event films. Tamil collected Rs. 2.44 crores, while Malayalam was the quietest of the lot at Rs. 1.35 crores.
What stands out is how lopsided the distribution is. A film mounted on this scale and promoted as a pan-India spectacle would ideally want its southern versions to contribute much more, and the numbers suggest that is still a work in progress. For now, the film is leaning heavily on the Hindi heartland to carry its weight.
That said, it would be unfair to write off the film’s journey after one day. Mythological and devotional dramas often grow on word of mouth, and the weekend, with its family audiences and festive mood, could change the trajectory. Much will depend on how viewers react to the film’s storytelling and scale as the days roll on.
All eyes now turn to Saturday and Sunday. If the audience response holds and families start filling the halls, Ramayan still has ample room to recover and build on this opening. The question is whether it can make up for the slightly underwhelming start and move steadily towards the big numbers it was always expected to chase.
