The ancient epic that has shaped Indian civilisation for millennia is finally coming to the big screen — and Dharma Productions just fired the opening arrow. On Thursday, 5 November 2026, the studio announced that its adaptation of the Ramayana is headed to cinemas worldwide, across all premium formats, with tickets now open for booking.

Dharma's boldest swing yet

For decades, Dharma Productions — the Mumbai-based powerhouse founded by Yash Johar and steered today by producer-director Karan Johar — built its identity on glossy family dramas and sweeping romantic films. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Student of the Year, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil: the studio's DNA has always been contemporary, urban, emotionally charged. A full-scale Ramayana adaptation marks a dramatic departure — a studio staking its brand on the most sacred text in the Indian cultural canon.

The studio's post declared simply: 'The wait is over. Witness the epic of Ramayana on the big screen. Experience it in cinemas worldwide, across all premium formats.' Short. Direct. The language of a studio that believes the title alone is the trailer.

Why Ramayana on-screen is always an event

Indian cinema has circled the Ramayana — centred on Lord Rama's trials, exile, and the rescue of Sita from Lanka — for generations. Television serialisations have drawn some of the largest audiences in broadcast history. Every cinematic attempt carries enormous cultural weight, because the story is not merely entertainment; it is devotion, identity, and memory compressed into narrative. Getting it right is not just a creative challenge — it is a responsibility felt by hundreds of millions of viewers.

The push into premium formats — IMAX, 4DX, and large-format screens — signals that Dharma is positioning this as a spectacle event, not a routine release. Global theatrical availability extends that bet well beyond India, targeting the vast Indian diaspora and international audiences drawn to mythological cinema.

Tickets open, the box-office clock starts now

With booking live, the first real signal of audience appetite will come within hours. Epic mythological releases in Indian cinema have historically generated some of the most charged advance-booking periods in the industry — passion and devotion translate directly into first-day numbers. Whether Dharma's Ramayana can match or surpass those benchmarks is the question the trade is already asking.

Karan Johar's studio has never attempted a canvas this large or this freighted with cultural expectation. If it lands, it redefines what Dharma is. That is the size of the bet on the table.