Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana Sparks Fresh Debates on Prabhas' Adipurush Misstep

The recent glimpse of Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming Ramayana, set for Diwali releases in 2026 and 2027, has stirred up uncomfortable conversations about one of Telugu cinema's most painful memories. Prabhas' Adipurush.

Seeing Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram alongside Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana has industry watchers reflecting on what could have been different for Darling's mythological venture. The contrast is striking: while Tiwari's production is being mounted with a reported budget of ₹835 crore for Part One alone, Adipurush's ₹550 crore budget resulted in a crushing ₹261 crore loss.

The timing of Ramayana's glimpse couldn't be more pointed. Here's a project that appears to understand the gravitas of adapting our most sacred epic, while Adipurush became a cautionary tale of misplaced ambition. The Om Raut directorial was heavily criticized for its screenplay, dialogues, and visuals, despite being postponed by five months and receiving additional budget for VFX improvements.

What makes this particularly relevant for Telugu audiences is the fundamental question of responsibility. Prabhas, arguably our most pan-Indian star post-Baahubali, had the perfect canvas to cement his mythological credentials. Instead, the film became synonymous with everything wrong about approaching sacred narratives with commercial sensibilities over spiritual understanding.

The real tragedy isn't just the box office numbers. Director Om Raut's recent claims about "regressive media" and "planning to pan the film" miss the point entirely: audiences didn't reject Adipurush because of perception management, but because it failed to honor the source material they hold dear.

Tiwari's approach, with music by Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman and a screenplay by Shridhar Raghavan, suggests a more respectful handling of the epic. The question now is whether Telugu cinema can learn from Adipurush's mistakes when our next major mythological venture comes around. Because if there's one thing the Adipurush debacle taught us, it's that audiences will always choose authenticity over spectacle when it comes to stories that define their cultural identity.