Ramayana: The Epic

Synopsis

The film is a retelling of the story of Lord Rama, from his birth until his battle with Ravan at Sri Lanka.

Production

Ramayana is the directorial debut of Chetan Desai, the chairman and managing director of Maya Digital Media. More than 400 crewmembers worked on the film over a five-year period; the first three years were spent designing the characters, while the other two were devoted to actual production.

Release

In September 2010, Warner Bros. India acquired the rights to Ramayana: The Epic. This has made it India's second animated feature to be released by the local arm of a Hollywood studio, following Disney and Yash Raj's Roadside Romeo from 2008.

The film was released on 15 October 2010, during the festivity of Dussehra. 250 prints were screened in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions; English, Gujarati and Bengali versions have also been prepared. A North American release is scheduled for early 2011. Four days after its debut, Joginder Mahajan of Delhi expressed concern over the low box-office take.

Reception

Reporting for the Twitch Film site, Josh Hurtado said, "While the animation of this project may look crude to [Western] eyes based upon the trailer, it is still miles beyond anything we've seen India create in this department so far." Upon release, Indian Express gave it three stars out of five and commented that the animation was above par for the Indian animation industry, but singled out the Sanskrit dialogue. The Times of India also praised the animation, adding that "the special effects ... sizzle and crackle". Anupama Chopra of NDTV Movies gave it a mixed review, calling it a "faithful but dreary retelling". She came to the conclusion that "Ramayana is an ambitious step toward better homegrown cinema for children. I just wish it had more crackle."