12 August,2026 02:38 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ranbir Kapoor (Pic/X)
The trailer of Nitesh Tiwari's magnum opus, Ramayana, was dropped a few days ago. While a section of the audience praised the storytelling, some viewers expressed disappointment with Lara Dutta and Sai Pallavi's costumes and even the VFX of the film, calling it AI-generated. Responding to the criticism, Ranbir addressed viewers who called the visuals AI-generated, saying it is "slightly funny" to see the growing number of "CG critics" online. He also highlighted the years of work and effort that artists and the film's team have put into creating the visuals.
In a chat with Collider, Ranbir took a dig at those judging the visuals and said, "There's also a new phenomenon right now that in the last few years, there has been such a large number of people online who have become CG critics. They see a trailer and they are always critiquing that it's not good enough or it's seeming like it's not done."
"I feel like people are getting more aware, especially with the influx of AI. People are getting more interested in how good the CG is, how good the CG will finally look once the film releases. And I think that is quite funny sometimes. Because people who don't know how CG is done, people think like someone's just used some AI and released something. There's countless hours of work where artists are working for years. I have seen Nitesh sir, Namit sitting on VFX calls ever since this project started, trying to get even the colour of the sky right. It's tricky right now to really impress the audience with authentic CG," said Ranbir Kapoor.
The film is all set to release in India on November 8, while it will be released two days prior overseas. Addressing why the international and Indian dates are different, the producer explained, "We are releasing internationally (on November 6) because the international distribution works from a Friday standpoint, which is the 6th of November. But (in) India, currently, we are targeting the Diwali release."
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana is a two-part adaptation of Valmiki's epic. Ranbir Kapoor plays Lord Rama, while Yash essays Ravana and Sai Pallavi portrays Sita. The ensemble cast includes Sunny Deol, Ravie Dubey, Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi and Kunal Kapoor, among others.
