Ramayana box office Day 1: Ranbir-Yash's film falls short of Adipurush

Ramayana secured the second-biggest opening of 2026, beating several major releases. However, Ranbir Kapoor and Yash's film failed to surpass Prabhas' Adipurush.

In Short

• Ramayana secured the second-biggest opening of 2026
• The film outperformed Pathaan, Animal and Dhurandhar but trailed Adipurush
• Strong word of mouth is expected to help the film sustain its momentum

Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash, has delivered the second-biggest opening by a film released in 2026. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the mythological epic arrived in cinemas after strong advance bookings and received positive reviews.

As per early figures, the film opened ahead of Dhurandhar, Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan and Ranbir Kapoor's Animal. It trails only Dhurandhar: The Revenge among this year's biggest opening-day earners, although its first-day collection remained below that of the Prabhas-starrer Adipurush.

According to trade tracking portal Sacnilk, Ramayana collected Rs 64.85 crore nett in India on its opening day. It was screened across 25,200 shows in multiple languages, with the Hindi version contributing the largest share.

The Hindi version earned Rs 47.50 crore from 20,678 shows. The Kannada version collected Rs 7.25 crore from 1,197 shows, while the Telugu version earned Rs 6 crore from 1,776 shows.

The Tamil version recorded Rs 2.60 crore. The Malayalam version collected Rs 1.50 crore from 557 shows. The film's total India gross collection stood at Rs 77.50 crore, compared with its India nett collection of Rs 64.85 crore.

Opening-day figures from overseas markets have not yet been revealed. They could add between Rs 20 crore and Rs 40 crore to the worldwide total, potentially taking the film past the Rs 100-crore mark.

Ramayana Day 1 box office collection (India Nett)

Source: Sacnilk

Adipurush and other major releases remain ahead

Despite the criticism it received after release, Adipurush remains ahead of Ramayana in opening-day collections. The Prabhas-starrer earned Rs 86.75 crore across all languages on its first day, led by the Telugu version and followed by Hindi.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge holds the biggest opening of 2026 with Rs 102.55 crore across all languages. Its worldwide opening stood at about Rs 236.63 crore, including paid previews. The film had also recorded more than Rs 50 crore in opening-day advance bookings before paid previews were counted.

Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan collected Rs 75 crore nett on its opening day. Yash's Toxic opened with a combined collection of more than Rs 100 crore across languages but later failed at the box office.

Extended weekend shifts focus to momentum

The next test for Ramayana is whether it can sustain its opening momentum. The film has received encouraging audience feedback and strong word of mouth. Adipurush and Toxic struggled to maintain momentum, with both films recording sharp falls in collections from their second day.

The extended weekend could help Ramayana Part One, although Diwali on Sunday presents a hurdle. Evening collections are expected to be affected by Laxmi Puja. Monday could perform differently, with the holiday period and favourable word of mouth giving the film an opportunity to record a historic day at the box office.

The opening weekend is particularly important because audiences could spread their cinema visits across the holiday period.

More about the film

The film is the first instalment of a two-part adaptation, with the second part expected during Diwali 2028. The two films have a reported combined production budget of Rs 4,000 crore.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra in collaboration with Yash's Monster Mind Creations, the film features Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Goddess Sita and Yash as Ravana. The cast also includes Sunny Deol, Ravie Dubey, Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Shobana and Vivek Oberoi. The music is by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer.

- Ends