Mumbai: Nitesh Tiwari’s mythological epic Ramayana has opened its advance booking with numbers that make it the early frontrunner of the Diwali box-office race. By 3 pm on the first day of pre-sales, the film had sold approximately 35,800 tickets across the top national multiplex chains — around 30,000 at PVR INOX and roughly 5,800 at Cinepolis, according to figures reported by box-office trackers.
The pace of sales suggests the film is heading toward roughly 55,000 first-day tickets across national chains within the first 24 hours of booking — one of the strongest early Diwali booking starts seen in the Hindi market this year. With the film releasing on November 5, 2026, a Thursday, the Diwali holiday window (Diwali falls on November 8 this year) is expected to give the pre-sale momentum a long runway.
The film’s scale has been building for months. Headlined by Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana, Ramayana is among the most ambitious Indian productions mounted in recent years. A new poster recently released — featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Ravie Dubey and Yash, as reported by Bollywood Hungama — has only added to the pre-release buzz.
Significantly, the early numbers come with a caveat that is music to the trade’s ears: southern markets, where the Hindi version of big event films often adds a substantial chunk of pre-release business, are yet to fully contribute. If the south follows the same trajectory as the national chains, the final pre-sale tally could look considerably healthier than even these early figures suggest.
The film will have its international premiere at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 27, 2026, a red-carpet launch that underlines the makers’ global ambitions. On the screens front, however, there is a wrinkle: Godzilla: Minus Zero releases in Japan on November 3 and is expected to compete for premium and IMAX screens internationally, which could tighten the big-format footprint available to Ramayana in overseas markets during its opening week.
None of this is to predict where the final collections will land — box-office trackers stress that pre-sale data is only one early signal. But as a Diwali event film, Ramayana has done exactly what the festive season demands: it has arrived early, sold loud, and given the holiday weekend a film to rally around. The next ten days of booking trends will tell the fuller story.
For the trade, the real theatre begins now. The Thursday release gives the film a four-day extended opening frame into Diwali weekend, and with southern markets yet to peak, the pre-sale curve is far from its ceiling. If the current pace holds, the industry will be watching whether the weekend booking adds a second surge as the festival itself draws nearer.
