Ever since word got out that Nitesh Tiwari was working on ‘Ramayana‘, speculation surrounded the film’s casting, with several leading stars rumoured to be in the running for the iconic roles. However, producer Namit Malhotra and director Nitesh Tiwari have now confirmed that Ranbir Kapoor was always their ‘only choice’ to portray Lord Rama.
Namit Malhotra confirms Ranbir Kapoor was ONLY CHOICE for Lord Rama role
Speaking to Screen Rant during their appearance at Comic-Con 2026, Malhotra revealed that casting Ranbir was never a difficult decision. Namit explained, “For both of us, from the get-go, it was to see Lord Ram being essayed by Ranbir. It was a natural choice. He is a big star and who knows what he was doing back in the day. So, before we could go to who is option two or option three, it was like option one – ‘It is him … let’s see if we can get him’.“
Nitesh Tiwari on Ranbir Kapoor’s casting
“Option A, B, and C was Ranbir,” filmmaker Tiwari said.
Mahesh Babu, Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan rumoured to be first choice
The comments put to rest years of speculation surrounding the film’s casting process. Before Ranbir Kapoor was officially announced as Lord Rama, several reports had suggested that South superstar Mahesh Babu was being considered for the role. Deepika Padukone was also widely linked with playing Sita during the film’s early development, while Hrithik Roshan’s name frequently surfaced in reports as a possible choice to portray Ravana.According to industry reports at the time, Mahesh Babu was unable to come on board due to scheduling commitments, particularly his collaboration with filmmaker SS Rajamouli for ‘Varanasi’. Meanwhile, Deepika, despite being strongly associated with the project during its pre-production phase, never officially signed the film.
Madhu Mantena explains reason for Mahesh Babu rumours
Addressing the speculation in a 2021 interview with ETimes, producer Madhu Mantena denied that Mahesh Babu had ever been approached for the role. “Mahesh (Babu) and Namit (Malhotra) are very close friends of mine. I have shared a lot of work about Ramayan with them but there has never been a discussion between either Mahesh or me, or with anyone else about that. I think it is because of my proximity to some of the actors, that there’s speculation. If we wanted to make Ramayan with Mahesh, we would wait for him. But we are still in the process; Mahesh is wonderful, but whether to cast him is something for Nitesh to decide,” Mantena had said.Mantena was initially attached to ‘Ramayana’ as a producer but reportedly exited the project in 2024 due to financial considerations.
‘Ramayana’ gears up for Diwali release
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, ‘Ramayana’ stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, and Yash as Ravana. The ambitious mythological epic is being mounted on a grand production budget of Rs 4,000 crore and has a USD 40 million marketing budget. The film’s release is planned as a two-part cinematic saga, with the first instalment scheduled for release on Diwali 2026.
