Advance bookings for Nitesh Tiwari's "Ramayana" Part One opened on Dussehra, 15 days ahead of the film's release. Five days later, the pace has picked up, with the film steadily crossing pre-sales milestones. Several shows across the country have already started selling out, with IMAX screenings emerging as the biggest driver of the film's advance bookings so far.
How Ramayana pre-sales are faring
"Ramayana" has already reached Rs8.72 crore in advance bookings, with nearly 2 lakh tickets sold. Initially, the Hindi version accounted for almost all pre-sales collections, but more Kannada and Telugu shows have opened over the past two days.
The Hindi version still accounts for 87% of the film's advance bookings. The Kannada version, now available at around 100 screens, is approaching the Rs1 crore mark, with some centres reporting occupancy of up to 72% for morning shows. Telugu screenings have opened at only around 10-15 screens, with collections barely crossing Rs1 lakh.
Shows for other regional dubbed versions of "Ramayana" Part One are expected to open in the coming week as the release date approaches. According to reports, the makers are negotiating revenue-sharing arrangements with theatre owners, which may have delayed the wider rollout of advance bookings.
Sacnilk reports that four shows, two in Telugu and two in Hindi, are already sold out. However, on-ground tracking suggests the number could exceed a dozen when blocked seats are taken into account.
IMAX leads pre-sales
Premium formats, including IMAX and 4DX, are driving advance bookings for "Ramayana". IMAX screenings account for only 3.8% of the film's total shows in India but have generated almost 25% of its pre-sales revenue so far.
According to the available data, regular screenings have sold 1.5 lakh tickets across more than 4,100 shows, averaging around 35 tickets per screening.
In comparison, IMAX screenings have sold more than 23,000 tickets across 140 shows, averaging 170 tickets per screening. This is almost five times the rate for regular screenings.
IMAX screenings have achieved this despite an average ticket price of Rs1,095, compared with Rs380 for regular screenings. Other premium formats, including 4DX, ICE and Dolby Cinema, have also sold more than 12,000 tickets across languages so far.
All about Ramayana
Produced by Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash's Monster Mind Creations, "Ramayana" is planned as a two-part film series.
The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman.
The first part is scheduled for worldwide release on 5 November 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2027. The films will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam across India.
Sony Pictures will handle global distribution outside India, while Dharma Productions will distribute the film in the Hindi-speaking market. The film is also scheduled for a worldwide IMAX release.