Ramayana producer says Hollywood always depicted Indians as victims: 'They didn't appreciate our industry or culture'

Namit Malhotra, the producer of Ranbir Kapoor and Yash's Ramayana, has said the film was born out of frustration of not seeing Indian culture's representation.

Filmmaker and VFX studio head Namit Malhotra has often said that his ambitious project, Ramayana, is meant to showcase Indian culture to the West in a way that Hollywood has never seen. Recently, at an event, Namit, who is producing the two-part Nitesh Tiwari film under his banner, said that the film originated out of frustration that there was no appreciation for Indian films of culture in the West.

Namit Malhotra is the producer of Nitesh Tiwari's epic two-part adaptation of Ramayana.

Namit Malhotra on Ramayana's genesis

Speaking at an event organised by ET Now recently, Namit, who has headed DNEG, the VFX studio responsible for several Oscar-winning films, spoke about Ramayana’s genesis. “When I went to Hollywood, I saw that we had no real presence. They didn’t have any representation of our history or culture. I’ve spent the last two decades really trying to establish a foothold in Hollywood, and unlike other American industries like finance and medicine, where Indians have had success, they didn't have an appreciation for our industry, our history or culture. It kept frustrating me through this lens of an emerging country, whether it was Slumdog Millionaire. We were always the victim. That always troubled me. I always thought we needed to show who we are, where we come from, and the richness of our history the way the world has never seen before. That really became the genesis of why Ramayana is the perfect story of our history that can be presented and shown to the world with pride,” he said.

Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is said to be the most expensive Indian film ever, with a reported budget of $500 million for the two films. Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios has produced the film along with Yash's Monster Mind Creations and Charles Roven 's American studio Atlas Entertainment.

Talking about the film’s scale and ambition, Namit added, “We have everything that the biggest Hollywood spectacles have, and one has made sure that we mount it at that scale and budget. Technical engagement and visual scale are second to none. People should feel tremendous pride that we are making what is the largest film, as an independently financed film from anywhere in the world.”

About the Ramayana films

Ramayana stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana, along with Ravie Dubey as Lakshmana and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. The film has music by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer, who makes his debut in Indian cinema. Part One will release this year ahead of Diwali, while the concluding second part will arrive in theatres ahead of Diwali 2027.