Ramayana Will Delve Deep Into Ravana's Life, Nitesh Tiwari Says, 'He Was A Benevolent King, Great Shiva Devotee'

Ramayana: Director Nitesh Tiwari has revealed that his Ramayana films will not depict Ravana as purely a villain. Instead, Yash’s depiction of Ravana will also include his better qualities like Shiva devotion, appreciation of music and benevolence as a king. Yash’s Ravana, as per Nitesh Tiwari, will showcase how anger and negativity can overpower the good aspects of someone’s being, eventually leading to their downfall.

Nitesh Tiwari recently attended Ramayana’s teaser launch in LA, where he told Collider, “See, Ravana had so many aspects to his life. He was a great warrior, he was an accomplished musician, a scholar, a benevolent king… a great Shiva devotee. There was so much to him than just being a black character.” Have a look at the interaction

here:

Interview of Nitesh Tiwari Sir, and damnn the way he describes the characters is just fascinating. 🔥

I have full trust and faith in him!🙏

He already made us emotional in that boat scene when Lord Rama was leaving for exile.😭#Ramayana #Ranbirkapoor #Yash pic.twitter.com/uWnVGdn3NF

— Ramayana🏹 (@Thevadeitz) April 4, 2026

The filmmaker continued, “… It’s very important for us to showcase all these bits and aspects of Ravana because there’s a very important lesson which is hiding in them. You can have all these great qualities, but if you are governed by vengeance and if you are driven by ego, then you know what the end result is going to be. There’s a great lesson out there.”

At the same event, Ranbir Kapoor also spoke about Yash’s Ravana and said, “Yash, of course, he has the stardom that he has. To play Ravana, you need somebody who has that aura and screen presence. His interpretation of Ravana is very different from what we have seen over the years. I think that’s something which the audiences will really enjoy watching on the big screen.”

Interestingly, Yash is also one of the producers of the movie. In April 2025, he opened up about co-producing Ramayana when he told Variety, “It has been my long-term aspiration to make films that will showcase Indian cinema on a global level. In pursuit of that, I was in LA to ally with one of the best VFX studios, and to my amazement, the driving force behind it was a fellow Indian.”

The actor added, “Namit (Malhotra, producer) and I had various ideation sessions, and coincidentally, our synergy on the vision for Indian cinema aligned perfectly. We brainstormed various projects, and during these discussions, the subject of ‘Ramayana’ came up. Namit had a part of it in the works.”

Ramayana: Part 1 brings together a wide ensemble, including Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The first part of Ramayana is set to release in theatres globally during Diwali 2026, with the second part scheduled for Diwali 2027.