Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1 has opened in cinemas worldwide on Thursday, 5 November 2026, with one of the biggest advance bookings ever recorded for an Indian film. Early trade estimates reported on Thursday put the film’s day-one advance booking gross in India at ₹50.08 crore, from 14.05 lakh tickets sold across 26,615 shows — before a single regular Thursday show had finished its run.
The Hindi version is driving the opening, with ₹37.52 crore of that advance gross from 21,550 shows, while the dubbed versions added strong support: Kannada at ₹5.40 crore, Telugu at ₹4.65 crore, Tamil at ₹1.75 crore and Malayalam at ₹77.20 lakh. Trade trackers project that the full day could deliver an India nett collection of ₹70–75 crore and a worldwide gross above ₹150 crore — but those are projections, not confirmed totals, and the final day-one figure will only settle once Thursday’s shows are counted.
A record advance booking before release day
The scale of the advance booking is what makes this opening stand out. A morning trade update on Thursday already showed India gross at ₹51.04 crore, with an estimated India nett of ₹43.25 crore, alongside overseas gross of ₹34.45 crore from 24 countries — partial, still-moving figures from the morning shows, not the day’s final tally.
Advance bookings had opened days earlier and built steadily through the week, helped by paid preview shows on the evening of Wednesday, 4 November. The film has also opened on a Thursday in the quiet pre-Diwali stretch, days before Diwali on Sunday, 8 November, which makes the size of the advance booking — rather than walk-in business alone — the story of day one.
The cast and the two-part epic
Ramayana: Part 1 stars Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana, with Ravie Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, it is the first instalment of a planned two-part cinematic retelling of the epic, released worldwide in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
The film’s Los Angeles premiere in late October drew encouraging early reactions, and the makers have positioned the two parts as one of the most ambitious Indian productions ever mounted, with the second part expected around Diwali 2028. Its reported runtime of around three hours and fifteen minutes makes the packed advance booking — thousands of shows on day one — all the more striking.
Why the opening matters for Indian cinema
If the full-day projections hold, Ramayana: Part 1 would rank among the biggest Indian openings of all time, and the biggest ever for a film opening in the pre-Diwali window rather than on the festival itself. Trade estimates before release had ranged widely — from around ₹65 crore to over ₹100 crore nett in India on day one — precisely because a Thursday opening ahead of Diwali is hard to model.
The advance booking suggests the audience turned up on faith in the cast, the director and the scale of the production, rather than waiting for reviews or word of mouth. Whether the film sustains that momentum through the Diwali weekend, when family audiences traditionally flood cinemas, will decide whether day one was a record or just a fast start.
What it means for fans in Pakistan
There is no official theatrical release of Ramayana: Part 1 in Pakistan, where Indian films remain banned from cinemas. Karachi fans had already celebrated the film ahead of its release, with members of the city’s Hindu community displaying the film’s poster at a temple and sharing best wishes for its cast and crew.
For Pakistani fans, then, the opening is being followed from a distance — through trade updates, overseas screenings and social media reaction — rather than at local box offices. The question they are asking now is the same one trade watchers are asking everywhere: once the final Thursday numbers land, will the ₹150 crore worldwide projection turn out to have been cautious, or optimistic?
Related Posts
ShowbizTalha Chahour Reveals His Rutba Character Hadi Is Based on a Real Person
ShowbizDeepak Perwani Calls Karachi “Dark and Depressing”, Praises Lahore’s New Look — Maryam Nawaz Replies “Most Welcome Bro”
ShowbizMunna Bhai 3: Farhad Samji Joins Rajkumar Hirani to Write Script, 2027 Shoot Planned
ShowbizShah Rukh Khan’s King Secures Record ₹665 Crore Pre-Release Business Ahead of Christmas Release
ShowbizAli Zafar Unveils Bostan Khan: His Dark Gangster Role in ‘Gangs of Khorasan’
ShowbizAlan Walker Lands in Lahore, Teases Collaboration With ‘Alfaaz’ Singers Hamza Malik and Zain ZohaibMost Popular
How-ToPTA Tax Calculator 2026: Check Mobile Tax on Any Phone416 views
Pakistan NewsPIA Boeing 787 Lease Deal: What It Means for the Airline388 views
SportsUEFA Champions League 2026-27: Format, Teams and Schedule381 views
Canada JobsTech Jobs in Canada: Roles, Salaries, and Skills Needed377 views
TechnologyPM Shehbaz Sets November Deadline for Alibaba AI and Digitalisation Projects in Pakistan360 views
ShowbizWomen’s Fashion in Pakistan 2026: Trends, Brands and Style Guide350 views
