Ten years, a reported Rs 4,000 crore and one company
Ramayana did not get its look by accident. Director Nitesh Tiwari spent ten years bringing the film to the screen, and the two part project is reported to have cost around Rs 4,000 crore. The film was produced by Namit Malhotra Prime Focus Studios with DNEG and Yash Monster Mind Creations. DNEG is the visual effects house behind the film, described by Moneycontrol as an eight time Academy Award winning visual effects and production house.
The Times of India gave the special effects 4.5 out of 5 and visual appeal 5 out of 5. Outlook India, even while giving the film 2.5 out of 5 overall, called the VFX immersive and said the environments had a grandeur that Indian mythological cinema has often struggled to reach.
The film was shot for IMAX, and it is being sold as an IMAX 3D experience first and a regular cinema release second. The frames are wider, the depth is deeper, and the flaws are easier to spot on a screen that size. It is a brave format for a film built almost entirely out of effects.
Six and a half years for a single fight
The most quoted number in the whole production is six and a half years. That is how long the fight between Ravana and Jatayu took to complete, according to Nitesh Tiwari himself. He said the clock ran from the time he briefed the previous artists to the time the work was finished. One action sequence, six and a half years.
The number sounds impossible until you think about what the scene has to do. A giant eagle, a demon king with ten heads, a flying machine, a forest that has to feel real while a mythological battle happens inside it. Every feather, every flame and every movement of the Pushpak Viman had to be designed, animated and checked frame by frame. Ranbir Kapoor has stressed that thousands of people work on each VFX frame, and he has pushed back on the idea that elaborate effects are casually dismissed as AI generated.
The scene is also the one that has drawn the warmest audience response. Viewers on X have called the Jatayu sequence stunning and singled it out as the high point of the film. The Week review says the Ravana and Jatayu battle, which forms the film fitting finale, is the sequence that moved the reviewer most. Six and a half years is a long time to spend on one fight. On opening day, it looked like time well spent.
Designing a flying machine: 40 to 50 versions of Pushpak
If the Jatayu fight took the longest, the Pushpak Viman took the most redesigns. Tiwari has said the team spent close to two years arriving at the structure of Ravana flying vehicle, and created close to 40 to 50 designs before finalising the one in the film. The reason was believability. Tiwari said the team did not want something that made people think, how can this fly.
The final design went through several changes along the way, including a large dome shaped structure that was not in the original concept. Each change meant reworking the fight sequence around it, because the vehicle and the battle are the same scene. That is why the two numbers belong together: 40 to 50 designs for the machine, six and a half years for the fight it flies in.
That obsession with internal logic runs through the whole production. NDTV reports that Tiwari and Malhotra studied the Vashisht Yoga Shastras and consulted scholars and pandits to make sure the film reflected Indian philosophical and cultural traditions accurately.
Shot for IMAX, built like a Hollywood epic
The IMAX format is not a marketing label here. The Week review says the film literally looks like a Hollywood produced epic with an enormous canvas imagined and rendered with virtual production technology, as seen in Avatar. It says noticeable effort has gone into creating a tactile sense and texture, whether in the design of the creatures and demons or in the manner in which various modes of transportation react with the environment.
That tactile quality is what separates Ramayana from the last big mythological effects film audiences remember. Adipurush was criticised for effects that looked weightless and unfinished. Ramayana, by contrast, is praised for effects that have weight. The creatures look like they occupy the same space as the actors. Mathrubhumi live updates say many viewers find the film technically on par with Hollywood productions, and that the mystical creatures look convincing on screen rather than appearing artificial.
The film was released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam across India, with IMAX among its premium formats, and Sony Pictures handling international distribution. The effects had to work for audiences in five languages and in cinemas from Mumbai to Los Angeles. That is why a company like DNEG, with its Hollywood track record, was brought in.
The set pieces that landed, and the honest caveat
Three set pieces dominate the audience conversation. The first is the Jatayu fight, the six and a half year sequence that closes the film. The second is the climax, which viewers on X have praised as emotional, with one viewer saying the Airawat, Jatayu and forest segments were amazing. The third is the Tandav, Yash dance of destruction, which Mathrubhumi reports is getting the biggest reactions in theatres.
There is an honest caveat, and it should be stated plainly. Not every viewer agrees the effects are flawless. India TV, in a 4 out of 5 review, says some visual effects could have been more polished. India Today notes uneven artificial imagery even while praising the spectacle. On a film of this size, built for IMAX, some unevenness is almost inevitable.
But the consensus is clear. The effects are the strongest part of Ramayana, and the Jatayu fight is the strongest part of the effects. Ten years, a reported Rs 4,000 crore, a six and a half year fight and 40 to 50 designs for a flying machine: those numbers are the makers claim about their own craft, and on opening day the audience response said the claim was largely justified.
What fans are saying on X
Viewer on X, as quoted by ABP Live: one viewer who watched the second IMAX 3D show said the Airawat, Jatayu and forest segments were amazing, and the climax moved him to tears three times. Link (roundup article quoting the post; exact post URL could not be verified because X is blocked in this workspace): https://news.abplive.com/entertainment/movies/ramayana-x-review-ranbir-kapoor-yash-win-praise-climax-leaves-viewers-emotional-1874827
Viewer on X, as quoted by NDTV: "RAMAYANA, INTERVAL REVIEW. The film is absolutely fantastic! The cinematography, CGI, VFX and storytelling are outstanding." Link (roundup article quoting the post; exact post URL could not be verified because X is blocked in this workspace): https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/ramayana-x-review-internet-calls-ranbir-kapoors-acting-painfully-dull-praises-yashs-ravana-and-jatayu-fight-scene-stunning-vfx-12285486?pfrom=home-ndtvworld_world_bollywood
Sources and reporting
- Indian Express — November 1, 2026 · Verifies the 6.5 year Ravana Jatayu fight, the 40 to 50 Pushpak Viman designs, the two year design time and the DNEG co-production
- NDTV — November 2, 2026 · Verifies the ten year build, the reported Rs 4,000 crore budget and the scholars and pandits consulted
- Moneycontrol — November 3, 2026 · Verifies DNEG as an eight time Academy Award winning house and the IMAX formats
