It feels like a circle is being completed, and then started over, with Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram. Almost 92 years after Prithviraj Kapoor played Ram in the 1933 film Seeta, the Kapoor family will once again have someone as this important hero in a large film being made in 2026.
A Legacy That Began in 1933
The 1933 Bengali movie Seeta, directed by Debaki Bose, was a very important moment in Indian film. Made by East India Film Company, it was the first Indian “talking picture” shown at a film festival internationally, and it won an award at the Venice International Film Festival in 1934.
Prithviraj Kapoor was Lord Ram in Seeta, and Durga Khote played Sita, with Gul Hamid and Trilok Kapoor in other roles. That film combined the story, plays, and the very early ways of making movies, and it created a standard for how big stories would be turned into films in India.
Ranbir Kapoor Returns to the Role
Now, in the future, in 2026, Ranbir Kapoor will be Lord Ram in Nitesh Tiwari’s two-part Ramayana. This casting is unusual because a great-grandson is taking on a role his ancestor played on film nearly a hundred years ago.
The film’s cast includes Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. The filmmakers released a 2 minute 38 second preview on Hanuman Jayanti, April 2, 2026, and the Central Board of Film Certification approved it, quickly getting people interested.
Two-Part Epic and Release Plan
The filmmakers are planning to release the story in two parts to include everything in the Ramayana. The first part will be out for Diwali 2026, and Ramayana: Part 2 will come out for Diwali 2027. This gives the film enough time to have a large scope and many details in both movies.
The fact that it will be shown in two parts shows it’s a very big production, with lots of special effects and many actors in scenes together. Splitting it into two films also aims to get a new generation interested in this old story, while still respecting the history of making it into a film that started with the earliest “talking pictures.”
Cultural and Cinematic Significance
This choice of actor is meaningful in many ways, because it respects his family’s past, reminds people of film history, and shows how strong the Ramayana’s influence still is. Both film experts and fans will compare Ranbir’s performance as Ram to how his great-grandfather portrayed the character in t1933, and also to what people expect from a movie about a myth today.
Because of the family connection, the movie is getting a lot of attention from the media and the public, but expectations for it are also very high. People will want the story to be true to the original, the acting to be good, and the filmmaking to be new and interesting. If the film manages to mix the old and the new, it could change how stories like this are adapted for viewers today. and how they are adapted for viewers today.
What to Watch For Ahead of Release
In the months leading up to Diwali 2026, how good the actors are together, the way the film looks, the special effects, and the music will all be important for how the film is received. People will also be watching the advertising and what’s happening on social media as the preview gets shared and fans discuss it.
Beyond how much money it makes, critics and the audience will judge how the Ramayana’s complicated characters and difficult moral questions are shown on the screen now. Whether this movie becomes a classic of Indian cinema will depend on how well the story is told and how it connects a story that is almost a century old to the people of today.
