Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana is arriving in theatres this week. With one more day left, all eyes are on the advance bookings and the possibility of the film taking a big opening at the box office.
As of now, the film has recorded decent numbers in terms of advance bookings. It has accumulated nett collections worth Rs. 13 crores for the opening day, and the five-day advance collections are more than that, with figures touching the mark of Rs. 27 crores.
The South Indian languages have contributed Rs. 3.50 crores. Almost 198,000 tickets have been sold at the national multiplex chains. Since the shows are not sold out yet for the first day and the pace of booking has been a little slow, early predictions have claimed that the film could end up selling 325,000 tickets on the first day.
Notably, advance bookings opened a long time ago, and certain screens are yet to start selling tickets to the audience. Trade experts stated that this is the main reason behind the slow pacing, since audiences are still searching for affordable tickets instead of spending a lot of money at the premium format theatres.
Despite the good numbers, the first-day figures are not up to the mark compared to what everyone is expecting. Based on the budget, the film should have taken a start of at least Rs. 50-60 crores, and a huge portion of tickets at that figure should have been booked by now, which has not happened.
Trade experts reacted by saying that the multiplex chains are slowly adding more shows in all the formats. However, they stated that the booking records on November 4, 2026, will give better clarity about the film’s possible opening day figure.
Some critics stated that even if the film takes a blockbuster opening, it is not sufficient, considering the budget of the film. As of now, worldwide bookings have reportedly touched the mark of Rs. 115 crores. But this figure was actually needed only in India, which did not happen due to the high ticket prices and the mistakes made by the producers in terms of their promotional strategy.
Certain sources have still predicted an opening of Rs. 55-60 crores, claiming that the weekend numbers will entirely depend on word-of-mouth. While some trade analysts have stated that the pre-Diwali period always impacts the numbers, others are not ready to believe it, as they said that the scale and star value are enough to help the film take an opening of Rs. 100 crores.
As of now, the Hindi version is expected to bring the maximum numbers. After this, only Kannada is expected to do well compared to Telugu and Tamil. Overall, the situation is still a little worse than expected. In case the weekend goes well, and the film’s content turns out to be good, it has the potential to create records from Monday.
On the other hand, Ranbir Kapoor’s fans are confident that the film will deliver in terms of content, giving the collections a big boost by the second and third day. They also stated that the theme matches perfectly with the ongoing festive season, which will help to attract audiences in large numbers.
While a lot of red flags still remain, let’s wait and see if Ramayana will impress the public with its content and the collections at the same time.
