Ramanand Sagar's grandson reviews Ramayana trailer, objects to Ranbir Kapoor's casting: ‘He has baggage after Animal'

Shiv Sagar praised the VFX in Ramayana and the casting of Yash and Sai Pallavi, but criticised Ranbir Kapoor for playing Lord Ram.

It is hard to match the legacy of legendary director and producer Ramanand Sagar, who created the iconic 1987 television series Ramayan. However, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Ramayana has been creating significant buzz ever since its trailer was released. Now, Ramanand's grandson, Shiv Sagar, has shared his review of the film's trailer.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor is portraying Ram in the film Ramayana

'Didn't care for other actors apart from Yash'

While Shiv praised the film's VFX and appreciated the casting of Sai Pallavi and Yash, he was critical of Ranbir Kapoor's casting as Lord Ram.

In the clip posted by Tooth Mountain Farms that is now going viral, Shiv said, "I saw the trailer, and of course, the trailer was much better than the promo because the teaser that they had put out before had very little information. In the trailer, we could see more of the characters and more of the VFX, and also they revealed Ravan, which is played by Yash."

Praising Yash and Sai Pallavi's casting as Ravana and Sita, he said, “Overall, I really like the casting of Yash as Ravan and Sai Pallavi as Sita because they are from South, and these actors from South, they really understand our mythology, and these are stories told to them from a very young age by their grandparents. So they really know the mannerisms, and they know these characters very well, and I think that is why Yash and Sai Pallavi were really able to incorporate these characters into their acting, but I did not care much for the other actors.”

'Ranbir has baggage after Animal'

Criticising Ranbir's casting as Lord Ram, he said, "Because typically, what we do is, we cast a fresh face for a character like Ram because Ranbir has a lot of baggage with him, especially after Animal. I really don’t know if he will be accepted as Ram, but the VFX was very good. Nitish Tiwari ji has conceptualised the thing very beautifully."

Shiv went on to praise the concept of Ravana's Pushpak Vimana and Surpanakha arriving on a lion chariot. He also expressed hope that the film performs well, saying it could encourage younger audiences to take an interest in Indian mythology.

About Ramayana

Ramayana is an upcoming mythological epic directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra. The film features a star-studded cast including Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol, Ravie Dubey, Rakul Preet Singh and others. The film's Part 1 is slated for release during Diwali 2026, with Part 2 scheduled to arrive in 2027. The film is reportedly mounted on a budget of ₹4,000 crore, with music composed by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer.