Nitesh Tiwari's Vision for Ramayan: 'This Film Must Make Every Indian Proud'

The Director Who Dared

Nitesh Tiwari is one of the most respected filmmakers in India — the director behind Dangal, one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever, and Chhichhore, winner of the National Award for Best Film. But Ramayan is a different kind of challenge. The scale is cinematic; the responsibility is cultural, spiritual, and historical all at once.

When Namit Malhotra of Prime Focus approached Tiwari with the project, the director spent months reading multiple versions of the Ramayan before saying yes. "I needed to understand the weight of what I was being asked to do before I could commit to it," he has said.

Why Ramayan, Why Now?

In various interactions, Tiwari has spoken about why this is the right moment for a definitive cinematic telling of the Ramayan. "Indian cinema has evolved technically to a point where we can do justice to this story," he has said. "Our VFX capabilities, our storytelling maturity, our actors — everything has aligned for this to be possible now."

He points to the global success of RRR and KGF as evidence that Indian cinema has earned a global audience that is now ready to receive a mythological epic at this scale. "The world is watching us. This is the moment to show them the greatest story we have."

The Responsibility

The hardest part for Tiwari has been the responsibility of adapting a text sacred to over a billion people. "You cannot take creative liberties the way you might with other stories. Every frame will be scrutinised. Every dialogue will be analysed. But that is exactly the motivation to get it right."

He has spent years in preparation — consulting Sanskrit scholars, studying the Valmiki Ramayan verse by verse, visiting Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, and other locations mentioned in the epic, and working with advisors from multiple religious and academic backgrounds to ensure authenticity.

"My job is not to interpret the Ramayan," Tiwari has said. "My job is to present it with the fidelity and scale it deserves — to make the story as Valmiki told it feel as vivid and alive as it did the first time it was heard."

The Emotional Core

Despite its epic scale, Tiwari insists that Ramayan's emotional core is intimate and human. "At its heart, this is a love story. A story about a son's devotion to his parents. A brother's sacrifice. A husband's quest to rescue his wife. These are emotions every person understands, regardless of religion or culture."

This philosophy explains several creative choices in the film — the decision to spend significant time on the exile years (not just the war), the casting of Ranbir Kapoor for his ability to convey internal struggle, and the choice to shoot certain key scenes in locations that genuinely feel like the forests and rivers of north India.

Directing Ranbir, Sai Pallavi, and Yash

Working with three of India's biggest stars simultaneously came with its own set of challenges. Tiwari has spoken about how different each of the three leads are as actors — and how that difference became an asset.

"Ranbir works from the inside out — he processes everything internally before it shows. Sai Pallavi is pure instinct — she feels the emotion in real time. Yash approaches Ravana with an intellectual framework — he has studied the character philosophically before bringing it physically." The result, Tiwari says, is a dynamic between the three that feels true to the epic itself.