Ramayana 3D: Sony Claims 'Most Immersive Experience Ever' — The Team Behind Dune and The Odyssey Explains Why

The Boldest Claim in Indian Cinema History

Sony Pictures' international release materials for Ramayana: Rise of a Legend contain a sentence that no Indian film has ever carried in its official marketing: "The most immersive 3D cinematic experience ever created."

This is not a blurb from an enthusiastic reviewer. It is the studio's own marketing claim, printed on posters distributed to cinema chains in North America, Europe, and Asia. It puts Ramayana directly in competition with Avatar: The Way of Water — the film that currently holds the popular consensus for the most immersive 3D experience in cinema history — and with the entire genre of large-format spectacle filmmaking.

The claim is bold enough to invite scrutiny. Is there a credible technical case for it? The answer, based on what is known about the production, is: yes — and understanding why requires understanding what DNEG actually built for this film.

The Team: DNEG, Dune, and The Odyssey

DNEG is the visual effects company that built the world of Arrakis for Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024), winning Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for both films. The company is currently working on Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey — the most technically ambitious project in Nolan's filmography. These are the two reference points Sony chose to place on the Ramayana poster.

The choice of reference points is deliberate. Dune's world-building is the current benchmark for creating a completely believable, textured, lived-in alien environment at scale. The Odyssey — based on production reports — is pushing the technical boundaries of practical and digital photography further than anything Nolan has previously attempted. DNEG's role in Ramayana draws on the accumulated expertise of both projects.

The specific department from DNEG assigned to Ramayana worked on a 600-day production schedule — a timeline comparable to Dune: Part Two's VFX timeline and significantly longer than most Indian VFX productions. The task: build Lanka, Ayodhya, and the forest worlds of the Aranya Kand to a level of detail and texture that justifies the "most immersive" claim when projected in 3D on an IMAX screen.

What Makes Ramayana's 3D Different

There are two distinct categories of 3D film: films that were shot or conceived for 3D and films that have 3D added in post-production. The latter — called "conversion 3D" — has a justified reputation for being inferior. The depth feels artificial because the spatial relationships between objects in the frame were not designed with 3D in mind.

Ramayana: Rise of a Legend falls firmly in the first category. Nitesh Tiwari and his cinematographer worked with the DNEG team from pre-production to design scenes specifically for the 3D format. The golden Lanka sequences, the Ravana throne room, the Ayodhya durbar, the Panchavati forest — each environment was built with 3D depth maps and stereoscopic rendering in mind from the first digital concept. When you watch the film in 3D, you are not seeing a post-processed approximation of depth; you are seeing depth that was designed into the frame from the beginning.

The IMAX Ratio Advantage

Nitesh Tiwari shot portions of Ramayana in the IMAX 1.43:1 ratio — the full-frame format that fills the entire IMAX screen from top to bottom. Standard cinema uses a 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 ratio; IMAX 1.43:1 reveals approximately 26% more picture than standard widescreen for those sequences.

Combined with native 3D, IMAX 1.43:1 sequences create a field-of-view that the human visual system interprets as genuinely immersive — not a window onto a screen but a space you are inside. The combination of IMAX scale, native 3D design, and DNEG's world-building is the technical foundation for Sony's marketing claim.

How Does It Compare to Avatar?

James Cameron shot Avatar: The Way of Water in native 3D with extreme attention to stereoscopic depth throughout the production. It remains the reference point for 3D immersion in cinema. Ramayana's technical team has not directly commented on the comparison, but the logic of Sony's claim is clear: Avatar was made with 2D filmmaking conventions for most of the frame and 3D added as a layer. Ramayana was designed for 3D at the environmental level — the worlds were built in 3D, not filmed and then converted.

Whether the claim holds against Avatar in execution is something only audiences who watch both films in IMAX 3D can verify. But the technical case — that a film built for 3D from the environment up, using the world's best VFX team in peak form, can exceed a film that used 3D as an overlay on conventional filmmaking — is a legitimate one.

Which Formats Are Available and What to Book

Ramayana: Rise of a Legend will release in the following 3D and large formats globally:

• IMAX 3D: The premium option. Full-frame 1.43:1 for IMAX-specific sequences, native 3D throughout. Available at IMAX-certified screens in major cities.
• 3D (standard multiplex): Available at most PVR-INOX and Cinepolis screens with 3D projection capability. Native 3D, not conversion.
• 4DX: Motion + atmospheric effects combined with 3D projection. Available at select 4DX-certified screens.
• ScreenX 3D: 270-degree panoramic screens with 3D. Available at select ScreenX locations.
• Standard 2D: Available at all screens for audiences who prefer or require 2D.

For audiences choosing a format for the first time: IMAX 3D is the designed-for experience. Standard 3D is a full, genuine 3D experience at lower cost. 2D is fully sufficient for the story and performances. The immersive claim is specific to IMAX 3D — that is the format Sony and the makers built toward.