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Indian cinema’s most expensive gamble is paying off. Ramayana: Part One, Nitesh Tiwari’s adaptation of the ancient epic starring Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana, opened in early November and is breaking records.
According to trade estimates reported by Pinkvilla, the film collected about Rs 47 crore nett on its second Friday, the highest second-Friday total in Indian box-office history, bringing its nine-day domestic total to roughly Rs 601 crore nett including 3D surcharges. The dubbed South Indian versions grew strongly in the second week, especially in Malayalam. In North America it earned about US$5.5 million in its second weekend and is approaching US$24 million after ten days. TheWrap reports it is the fastest Indian film to pass Rs 1,000 crore (about US$106 million) worldwide.
Why Indonesians searched for it
“Ramayana film” trended in Indonesia, and that should not surprise anyone. The Ramayana is not only an Indian story. It is part of Indonesian culture. Its scenes are carved into the reliefs of Prambanan in Central Java, built in the ninth century. The Ramayana Ballet has been performed at Prambanan’s open-air stage since 1961. The story is told in wayang kulit shadow puppetry, in Balinese kecak dance at Uluwatu, and in Javanese literature through the Old Javanese Kakawin Ramayana. Many Indonesians know Rama, Sinta, Rahwana and Hanoman well, even if the Javanese and Balinese versions differ from the Indian original in important ways.
My view: a regional story, a missed regional opportunity
The success of this film shows what large-scale, confident storytelling based on a country’s own cultural heritage can achieve. India invested heavily in visual effects, star casting and a two-part structure, and audiences have responded.
Indonesia has its own versions of these epics, as well as the Mahabharata, Panji tales and many regional legends. Yet Indonesian cinema has mostly turned to them for horror films or low-budget television. Imagine a serious, well-funded Indonesian film based on the Javanese Ramayana, with Prambanan, wayang aesthetics and gamelan music. It could appeal to domestic audiences and to the global market that Indian films are now reaching.
There is also an opportunity in distribution. Indonesian cinemas should give Ramayana: Part One proper screens. Its audience here goes beyond the Indian diaspora to include families who grew up with the story through the ballet, wayang and school textbooks.
Not everyone will love it. Some critics will find it too spectacular or too loud, and debates in India about how sacred stories are portrayed on screen will continue. But a film that is getting audiences of all ages back into cinemas in large numbers is good news for the industry.
Sources: Pinkvilla; TheWrap via Yahoo; Variety.
