Ramayana is getting an interesting promotional treatment in Thailand. Sony Pictures Thailand shared pictures from a media screening event for the film, but it was not the movie’s visuals that caught everyone’s attention.
Three glamorous promotional models dressed in revealing; heavily decorated outfits posed in front of the film’s backdrop. Their looks, featuring elaborate jewelry and celestial dancer-inspired styling, quickly became a talking point on social media. The models were hired for the Thai promotional event and are not part of the film’s cast.
The film has been released in Thai theatres, including IMAX screens, with Thai, Hindi and Tamil audio options and Thai and English subtitles. It is also being screened in a Director’s Cut version.
Social media users were quick to connect the three models with the celestial dancers of Hindu mythology. Some joked that Rambha, Urvashi and Menaka had arrived to promote Ramayana, while others called them Apsaras straight out of Treta Yuga’s Indra Lok.
However, not everyone found the promotional style amusing. Some people thrashed the makers for using women in revealing outfits to promote a pious and revered Hindu epic like Ramayana. They felt that a film based on such a sacred subject should be promoted with greater sensitivity and respect.
While Ramayana is being promoted as a grand visual spectacle, its Thai promotions have created a different kind of controversy altogether.
