Yash's Ravana Has Already Stolen Ramayana — Even Critics Who Panned the Film Agree

When the Villain Wins the Epic

It has happened before in Indian cinema. Mogambo overshadowed the hero in Mr. India. Gabbar Singh became more iconic than Jai and Veeru. Amrish Puri's villains outlived every hero he ever faced. And now, with Ramayana 2026, Yash's Ravana has joined that rare tradition: the antagonist who becomes the reason people buy a second ticket.

The verdict has emerged with unusual consensus. Eastern Eye, reviewing the film, wrote plainly: "Yash outshines Ranbir Kapoor as Ravana." Andhra fan communities, known for their passionate but divided loyalties, have declared "Yash's Ravana Performance Electrifies Fans Worldwide." SS Rajamouli, one of the most credible voices in Indian cinema today, specifically singled out Yash when reviewing the film publicly. And across social media, the most shared clips from Ramayana are not Ram's introduction or Sita's abduction — they are Ravana.

What Yash Did That Nobody Expected

The conventional approach to screen-Ravana, shaped by decades of television and theatrical portrayals, presents a figure of thundering arrogance — 10-headed, gold-crowned, essentially a force of nature. Nitesh Tiwari and Yash rejected that template. The Ravana in Ramayana 2026 is dangerous because he is persuasive. He is a scholar, a patron of arts, a king who genuinely believes his own moral framework is superior to Ram's.

In the film's most discussed scene — a confrontation between Ravana and Sita in Lanka — Yash does not rage. He reasons. He lays out, with unsettling calmness, why he believes what he is doing is not wrong. The scene has been called "the best 8 minutes in the film" by multiple critics, including those who gave the overall film a mixed review. This is the performance working in spite of a verdict, not because of it.

The Ravana dance sequence — a full choreographed number that seemed risky in trailers — has become the film's defining viral moment. Fans are calling it "aura-farming" at a scale not seen since KGF Chapter 2. The sequence is both homage to Ravana's artistic nature (he is, in the original text, a master of multiple arts) and a demonstration of Yash's willingness to commit entirely to physicality.

The Christopher Kanagaraj Controversy

Not all reactions were positive. Director Christopher Kanagaraj, known for the Lokesh Cinematic Universe and Leo, posted on X that Ramayana was "average" — a tweet that immediately went viral and sparked a fierce counter-reaction from fans defending the film. Within hours, Kanagaraj's post had gathered tens of thousands of replies, with the majority of them focused on a single point: even if the film has weaknesses, how does Yash's Ravana get called average?

The debate, unintentionally, became the film's best marketing. The discourse drove curious viewers to cinemas specifically to evaluate the Ravana performance. Ticket sales on the morning after the viral tweet showed a measurable uptick in advance bookings for evening shows, according to tracking dashboards.

Kanagaraj has not responded to follow-up questions about whether his critique was aimed at the film overall or specific aspects of it. The tweet remains up. Yash's Ravana remains the conversation.

Post-KGF, This Is What Was Needed

Yash's KGF Chapter 2 (2022) made him arguably the biggest pan-India star outside of the established Bollywood hierarchy. Rocky Bhai became a cultural shorthand for a certain kind of invincible masculinity. The risk of Ramayana was that Yash would play Ravana as simply a re-skinned Rocky — same energy, different costume.

He did not. The performances are entirely distinct. Rocky Bhai was controlled chaos, a street fighter who learned to become a king. Ravana in Ramayana is a king who chose to become a monster — and the tragedy is that he knows it. Yash has spoken in interviews about spending months in Mysore studying Sanskrit texts about Ravana's character, particularly the sections of Valmiki's Ramayana where Ravana is described as a Brahmin, a devoted Shiva worshipper, and a philosopher before he is a villain.

That research is visible on screen. It makes Ravana three-dimensional in a way that the film's critics — even those who gave it only 45% on Rotten Tomatoes — have consistently acknowledged. Screen Rant, in a 7/10 review, wrote that Yash "elevates every scene he occupies." That is the highest possible praise for an antagonist in a mythological epic: elevating scenes you are in.

What This Means for Part 2

Ramayana is structured as a two-part epic. Part 2, releasing on Diwali 2027, will cover the battle at Lanka — the final confrontation between Ram and Ravana. If Part 1 has established Ravana as the film's most compelling presence, Part 2 faces an unusual narrative challenge: how do you make audiences simultaneously root for Ram's victory and grieve Ravana's defeat?

Yash has confirmed he will return for Part 2. Given the response to Part 1, the climactic duel between Ram and Ravana now carries the weight of genuine anticipation. Part 2's box office potential, already strong, has been amplified by the audience's emotional investment in Yash's version of Ravana.

The villain won Part 1. Part 2 will decide whether he loses the war.