New Delhi: Ramayana: Part One has earned over Rs 200 crore worldwide in two days, but a different conversation now competes with the collection figures.
Clips of an action scene featuring Sai Pallavi’s Sita and Ravi Dubey’s Lakshman have surfaced on social media, reportedly from the leaked international Hindi version. Many viewers in India say they did not see the sequence in their theatres. Discussions on social media platforms like X and Reddit point to differences between the two Hindi releases, yet it could not be confirmed whether the overseas cut has extra footage or whether scenes were dropped from the Indian one.
Sita and Lakshman fight scene in Ramayana
The clips show a sequence set during Rama’s confrontation with Khara and Dushana and their army of 14,000 demons. An injured Lakshman runs with Sita through a rocky canyon while three fierce, dog-like creatures chase them. Cornered, the pair hide in a cave behind a waterfall.
Lakshman sits down to recover, and Sita pours water over his wounds, apparently unaware that the attackers have tracked them there. The break does not last. The three creatures reach the cave and creep forward with bared teeth.
Sita does not back away. She stands up, draws a dagger and takes a defensive stance. Lakshman then steps in front of her and readies his sword. As the animals leap at him together, an arrow hits them mid-air and sends them tumbling over the waterfall. The scene then cuts to Rama, played by Ranbir Kapoor, who has arrived in time to save them.
Online, the scene is drawing praise because it shows Sita’s instinct to defend herself and Lakshman’s resolve to protect her despite his injuries.
Ramayana Hindi version runtime difference
The clips have led viewers on X and Reddit to question why the Hindi version in Indian theatres does not carry the sequence. The footage is being shared as part of the international Hindi version and not the shorter English cut, a distinction that matters because the makers had prepared separate edits for domestic and overseas audiences.
The Indian Hindi version reportedly runs for about 196 minutes, while the English version is around 166 minutes, a gap of roughly 30 minutes. The English cut drops some songs and story passages, including parts of the Bharat Milap episode and other scenes involving Rama’s family. These trims were reportedly made to help audiences unfamiliar with the epic follow the story.
The current debate is different. It centres on the possibility that the international Hindi version has footage the Indian Hindi release lacks. News18 Showsha has not established whether that is true, or whether any scene was removed from Indian screenings. The makers have not issued a statement on the differences being discussed online.
