The introduction glimpse of 'Ramayana Part 1' runs for three minutes — more or less the typical length of a movie trailer. However, the clip disappoints.
The visuals feel fan-made at first glance, lacking compelling imagery aside from title cards accompanied by routine and weak superimposed text.
One particular text reads, "Worshipped for 5000 years by 2.5 billion people." But what does that even imply? Ramayana is not 5000 years old.
Even the Mahabharata, which scholars tentatively date to around 3200 BCE, would place it roughly 5200 years ago.
The dating of the Ramayana is far more ambiguous. As per Valmiki Ramayana, the events occurred during the 24th Mahayuga of the current Manvantara, whereas we are currently in the 28th.
Given such uncertainty, unlike the more date-specific Mahabharata, the makers should have avoided throwing out unverifiable claims as definitive supertext.
Moreover, the background music sounds system-generated, lacking any unique signature of A.R. Rahman. It’s puzzling why the makers would release such amateurish content as the first look.
If not for the final shot of Ranbir Kapoor in Rama’s avatar, drawing his bow, the entire video could have easily been mistaken for fan-made content. This glimpse neither sets expectations nor raises eyebrows.
With such a massive star cast and the ambitious plan to release the story in two parts, the makers must tread carefully to avoid falling into the same negative trap as Adipurush.