Unseen Ramayana footage screened in US, viewer predicts Oscar nod for Ranbir Kapoor, Yash film: 'VFX won't be an issue'

About 20 minutes of Ramayana footage was screened at CinemaCon, an attendee revealed, along with praise for the film's scale.

The makers of Ramayana, the upcoming adaptation of the epic by Nitesh Tiwari, took their film to CinemaCon, the grand annual convention for cinema industry in Las Vegas. Producer Namit Malhotra and actor-producer Yash not only gave the film’s first glimpse at the event but also interacted with international media in a series of interviews. Now, an attendee at CinemaCon has revealed that the producers also screened about 20 minutes of unseen footage of the film for select attendees, and gave their opinion based on that.

Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama in Ramayana Part One.

Ramayana screened at CinemaCon

A YouTuber with the channel Mr Like It Or Not shared on Saturday that the makers of Ramayana screened 20 minutes of early footage from the film at CinemaCon, which he also saw. In the video titled ‘Ramayana Secret footage shown at CinemaCon’, the creator said that “this film can be both, a true grand epic, and also a spectacular fantasy story.” The creator claimed that Warner Bros has come on board as the international distributor for the film. “They just landed a big distribution here in America that will give them a big, global push. Warner Bros studios will be distributing this film globally. That is a very big deal about over 4500 screens showing this film this November,” they said. However, neither the film’s team, nor Warner Bros Discovery has confirmed this development yet.

‘This film will get an Oscar nomination’

In their 8-minute video, the creator also added that they watched 20 minutes of unseen footage from the film, praising its scale. “I was lucky enough with about 15 other people to see about 20 minutes of footage. It looks stunning. The visuals look fantastic. This is going to be a very big, international feature player. I am pretty sure they are going to push for some Academy Awards in a bunch of different categories, especially a nomination for the International Feature Film. It's gonna fit that particular style,” they added.

In the comments section, when one fan raised doubt if the film will be able to secure an Oscar nomination, they responded, “From what I saw, I absolutely think this will get a best international feature Oscar nomination. To me, the narrative works very well.” Many fans asked about the film’s visual effects. After the release of the film’s first glimpse earlier this month, the VFX had faced some criticism online. But Mr Like It Or Not clarified, “I believe the VFX is not going to be an issue.”

All about Ramayana

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, Ramayana is a two-part film with Part One releasing this November, followed by the second part in 2027. The films star Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman.