Ram Gopal Varma claims Ranbir Kapoor, Yash's 'Ramayana: Part 1' was made under Rs 800 crore

Mumbai, Nov 15: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has claimed that Ranbir Kapoor and Yash-starrer ‘Ramayana: Part 1’ was made on a budget of less than Rs 800 crore, challenging reports that the two-part franchise has a combined budget of around Rs 4,000 crore.

In a post on social media on Sunday, Varma said the actual cost of the first instalment was below Rs 800 crore, taking into account commercial arrangements, global tax benefits and subsidies.

“Breaking all box office records and fast emerging as the BIGGEST HIT EVER in INDIAN CINEMATIC HISTORY, still a lot of noise is being made by many jealous that the collections are still not enough because it’s 2000 cr a piece, making it 4000 for 2. I got to know that the actual cost of Part 1 is a little less than 800,” he wrote.

Varma added that the cost could eventually come down further after accounting for mutually beneficial deals, tax benefits and subsidies. He also said that, based on his experience as a filmmaker, the film's production cost did not appear to exceed that figure.

The filmmaker further argued that it would be incorrect to assume that both instalments would have identical budgets.

“That’s like thinking the cost before interval and post-interval will be same in a film. I know of films where 50% of the cost was just climax,” he said.

Varma also pointed out that a substantial part of the expenditure went into creating the world of ‘Ramayana’, which could serve as an asset for future projects, including gaming and the second instalment.

He said these assets could be used in future ventures by producer Namit Malhotra, potentially reducing the effective cost of subsequent projects.

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Varma went on to suggest that the film's box-office performance could help Malhotra recover the investment in the first instalment, or even the combined expenditure on both parts.

“Namit Malhotra can build his own Pushpak vimaan and start dumping money into innumerable extraordinary ventures which all the biggest production companies from north to south couldn’t do till now and then he can surpass even the biggest of the biggest Hollywood biggies,” he added.

‘Ramayana: Part 1’, which released on November 5, 2026, is reported to have crossed Rs 1,000 crore in worldwide box-office collections.

However, Varma's budget estimate remains his own claim and has not been independently confirmed in the information provided.