Ramayana opens on Thursday with record pre-sales after a Rs 1,000-crore October

Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Part One opens in cinemas on Thursday, 5 November, on advance ticket sales that trade trackers say are among the biggest for any Indian film. It follows a strong October, when Indian films earned more than Rs 1,000 crore at the domestic box office, led by two sequels.

Reported pre-sales figures vary with how they are counted. Business Today, citing the tracker Sacnilk, said gross bookings in India had passed Rs 70 crore with two days to go. ETV Bharat put domestic bookings at Rs 60.69 crore excluding blocked seats, and worldwide opening-weekend sales above Rs 100 crore. Oneindia reported Rs 79.88 crore across five show dates and 8.88 lakh tickets sold for the first day. The producers have not published figures, so all of these are trackers' estimates.

Comparisons

The Week reported that Hindi-language bookings were well ahead of Animal (2023), which ended its advance-booking run at Rs 29.25 crore and was then one of the biggest Hindi openers. According to ETV Bharat, the opening day accounts for the largest share, at Rs 32.85 crore including blocked seats. Oneindia reported particularly strong demand in Karnataka. Advance totals are an early guide, not a forecast: they count only tickets sold before release, not sales at the counter on the day.

The film is one of the most expensive Indian productions. Bar and Bench reported a budget of Rs 2,000 crore for Part One, a figure cited in a court filing. On Monday the Bombay High Court granted the producer, Godpower Media, a "dynamic" injunction against piracy, which requires internet providers to block infringing links once notified, without fresh court orders.

A Rs 1,000-crore October

Ramayana arrives after a month in which Indian cinemas earned more than Rs 1,000 crore, according to Variety India's October report. Two sequels dominated:

• Jailer 2 (Tamil): Rs 459.70 crore
• Drishyam: The Conclusion (Hindi): Rs 377.90 crore
• Premada Oorali (Kannada): Rs 111.47 crore
• Baththa (Tamil): Rs 30.23 crore

Together, the top two took about four-fifths of the month's takings. Variety India called it a strong month for Kannada cinema and a weak one for Telugu and Malayalam. Among Telugu films, Ranabaali and Don't Trouble The Trouble underperformed, while the low-budget Garividi Lakshmi did well, helped by audiences in north Andhra. The Malayalam releases Titans, The Third Murder and Original underperformed. Hindi releases besides Drishyam included Udta Teer, Prahaar: The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam and Nayi Naveli. Variety India did not name the source of its data, and trade figures for the same films differ between trackers.

Why it matters

Cinema chains have relied on a small number of large releases since the pandemic. A big opening for Ramayana would give theatres a third major hit since mid-October. Because this is the first of two parts, its performance will also shape how much the producers can recover on the two-film project.

What happens next

Opening-day estimates from trackers are expected on Friday morning. Producers usually announce official figures over the first weekend.