Rs 4,000 cr budget for ‘Ramayana.’ Is it a joke?

In their bid to amplify and augment their product to the extreme, the makers of the new version of the Ramayana featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, and Sunny Deol have gone from larger than life to larger than laugh.

Many distinguished producers and directors challenged the figure given.

Director Sanjay Gupta took to his social media account to pen a cryptic post, seemingly as a jibe at Namit Malhotra. “MATRIX, LORD OF THE RINGS, AVATAAR, DUNE, STARWARS, etc. All films with groundbreaking never seen before VFX. None spoke about it before the release. They let the work speak for itself.”

One top director, known for his lavish magnum opuses, wants to know how any production company could ever hope to recover that kind of investment. “Rs 4,000 crores? Are you joking? It is not only an insanely inflated figure, but it is also worthy of laughter. No sane producer and his investors would risk that kind of money. As for Ramayana, the last time they attempted to put that on screen (in Adipursh), the producers, T Series, lost about Rs 200 crores from their Rs 650 crore investment.”

While the producers remain completely mum about all the wild rumours, their sponsored rumour mongers are virtually going amok with speculative “source-based” rumours. One recent planted story suggests that Kannada superstar Yash has only fifteen minutes of playing time. While Yash is prohibited by contract from speaking, a source close to him says, “Who is spreading these rumours? Yash is there for a good 55-60 mins in the first segment. These rumours are probably being spread to create curiosity about the project. But I don’t think it is working.”

Ramayana, which is being directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious projects. But Rs 4,000 cr? Even James Cameron would have a good laugh over that one. While the actual budget for the Ramayana project is not known, those in the know insist it is closer to Rs 1,000 crore or even less.