'Nobody has the virtue to play Lord Rama': Yash defends Ranbir Kapoor's casting in Ramayana, praises his 'sacrifice'

Yash has defended his Ramayana co-star Ranbir Kapoor's casting as Lord Rama in the Nitesh Tiwari film.

Actor Yash, who is set to make his Hindi film debut with Ramayana as the antagonist Ravana, has thrown his weight behind co-star Ranbir Kapoor’s portrayal of Lord Rama in the film. The two actors joined director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra at a panel for the film at the San Diego Comic Con on Thursday. Here, Yash praised Ranbir’s portrayal of Lord Rama in the film and shared a message for viewers.

Yash plays Ravana while Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama in Ramayana.

Yash defends Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama

On Thursday, the makers of Ramayana sat down for a discussion about the film at the Comic Con in the US. Yash, who plays Ravana in the film, talked not just about the film, but also about his co-star and ‘adversary’ in the film. Talking about Ranbir’s portrayal of Lord Rama, Yash said, “Nobody in this world can come and say, 'I have the virtue to play Lord Rama'. The fact that he (Ranbir) said the same says it all. He is a fabulous actor. It's not easy to play Lord Rama and the way he has really worked, huge respect to him.”

After the first teaser of the film was released earlier this year, Ranbir received both praise and criticism for his look as Lord Rama. While some fans said he looked the part and appeared regal, others were not convinced with the 45-year-old playing Rama in his 20s. However, Yash allayed all those fears when he added, “He has worked very hard on his fitness. When you see Ramayana, you will see a beautiful Rama with great intent and great sacrifice he has done.”

Ramayana trailer postponed

The Ramayana team’s appearance at the San Diego Comic Con was set to culminate with the global launch of its trailer on Friday morning. However, hours before the scheduled trailer release at 8 AM, it was postponed. Producer Namit Malhotra wrote on social media, “Today is a very special moment for our "Ramayana", my dream of taking ramayana to the world is now a reality with our partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment. In light of the above we will be launching our trailer now globally at a later date. “In over 100 years of Indian cinema this will become a moment of great pride where Ramayana will be shown to the entire world like any major global Hollywood film. This is special as it opens the door for people of the world to discover the richness of our culture and our stories with renewed pride and enthusiasm.”

All about Ramayana

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana is a two-part epic with the first part releasing in theatres this November. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana, apart from Ravie Dubey, Sunny Deol, Rakul Preet Singh, Lara Dutta, Arun Govil, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor, and a large ensemble cast.