On the night of Dussehra 2026, Dharma Productions released a devotional audio-visual piece titled Ravana Tandav — described as 'a powerful expression of devotion to Lord Shiva' — as the latest promotional salvo for Namit Malhotra's ambitious Ramayana film directed by Nitesh Tiwari. The timing is deliberate, poetic, and very much on-brand: Dussehra is the festival that commemorates Ram's victory over Ravana, making the release of a piece centred on the demon-king's own devotional ferocity a sharp, counter-intuitive hook.

Ravana Tandav and the festival that celebrates his defeat

Releasing a Ravana-centric piece on the very day effigy-burnings light up skylines across India takes nerve — and narrative intelligence. The Tandav is historically associated with Lord Shiva's cosmic dance, a tradition Ravana himself invoked as a devoted worshipper in the Ramayana's own lore. By anchoring the promo here, the filmmakers signal that their telling of the epic will not flatten Ravana into a cartoon villain but engage with the full complexity the original text carries. The post pairs the release with a direct ticket-booking call-to-action, suggesting the film is far enough along for commercial mobilisation.

Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana and the weight of 'Our Truth. Our History.'

Nitesh Tiwari, best known for directing Dangal — one of Hindi cinema's highest-grossing films — brings a track record of delivering emotionally grounded, culturally resonant epics. Pairing him with Namit Malhotra, a producer with deep expertise in large-scale visual effects, positions this Ramayana as a project built equally for spectacle and soul. The tagline the production has adopted — 'Our Truth. Our History.' — is a deliberate statement of ownership and reverence, pitching the film not as mythology-as-entertainment but as a cultural reckoning.

Bollywood's Ramayana race and why Dussehra matters as a launchpad

Indian cinema has a longstanding tradition of weaving mythological epics into its DNA, from the early black-and-white devotionals to today's VFX-heavy tentpoles. Recent years have seen multiple high-profile Ramayana adaptations announced by major studios, making the space genuinely competitive. Aligning promotional releases with Dussehra — when the Ramayana lives in public consciousness at its most vivid, with Ram Lila performances and effigy pyres across the country — is a proven amplification strategy. Dharma's move here follows that playbook while adding the twist of a Shiva-devoted Ravana piece rather than a Ram-centric montage, carving its own emotional lane.

With tickets now open for booking and a Dussehra-timed release of the Ravana Tandav video, the Nitesh Tiwari–Namit Malhotra Ramayana has officially moved from announcement to anticipation. The question now is whether the full film can match the gravitational pull of this opening act.