Ranbir Kapoor has opened up about playing lord Ram in his upcoming movie, Ramayana. Recently, the makers of Nitesh Tiwari’s directorial dropped a behind-the-scenes video of the film in which Ranbir was
seen explaining that Ramayana is a big responsibility.
“Lord Rama’s biggest strength was not his bow and arrow, it was his shama (forgiving nature) – his ability to forgive. Ye role nahi hai. It’s not ki mujhe ek film offer hui hai aur role exciting hai. Ye ek zimmedaari hai (This is not a role. It’s not as if I was offered a film and the role is exciting. It’s a responsibility),” he said.
“Everything comes down to the belief and simplicity of the individual playing Lord Rama. Every day I reminded myself that my job was not to be worthy of this role. My job was to be worthy of the faith that people place in this story.”
The video also featured Arun Govil, who was also seen justifying Ranbir Kapoor’s casting as lord Ram. “They way I had always imagined lord Ram would walk, sit, speak or carry himself, Ranbir has some of those qualities. Normally, you don’t expect a superstar to come and touch your feet but he always does it,” he said. Govil will be seen essaying the role of Dashrath in the movie.
In the same video, Nitesh Tiwari also added, “In India, we believe that even if we imbibe just 1 per cent of what Shri Ram was, that will make us a great human being. So just imagine, the kind of human he must have been. And that’s why the casting of Shri Ram is next to impossible. We can only attempt. When Namit discussed Ranbir’s name, I too thought that he checked all the boxes.”
Besides Ranbir Kapoor, Ramayana also stars Sai Pallavi and Yash as Sita and Ravana, respectively. The film has been produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in association with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. Sony Pictures will handle the film’s global distribution outside India.
Ramayana will be released in two parts, with part one of the film releasing on Diwali this year.
