Today's Explainer: 'Ramayana' earns Rs 375 crore in 3 days, Rs 5000 crore collection is needed for profit; Where did Rs 2000 crore be spent?

The film Ramayana Part-1, which was released on November 5, has earned Rs 375.5 crore in 3 days. The benchmark of Rs 1000 crore is considered to be big for Indian films with big budgets. At the same time, Rs 4000 crore has reportedly been spent on the production of both the parts of 'Ramayana'. This is the most expensive film in India so far. How much does a film need to earn to make a profit, will it be able to earn so much and what is there in it that cost so much; Let's know in today's explainer... Question 1: How has 'Ramayana' earned at the box office so far? Answer: According to industry tracker Seknilk and several other reports, Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana has earned Rs 375.5 crore worldwide in the first 3 days. Check out the breakdown of the first 3 days... According to film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh, "The film business was affected on Friday due to the period before Diwali. For those who understand the ground reality of the film business, the earnings of 2 days are exactly as expected." Question 2: What is the minimum earnings required for 'Ramayan' to make a profit? Answer: According to trade expert Ramesh Bala, a common slogan of the box office is that a film has to earn 2.5 times its budget for a break-even. Break-even means that stage of earnings when the film recovers its price. There is neither loss nor profit. It is said that Rs 4,000 crore has been spent on the production of both parts of Ramayana. According to this, the cost of the first part is said to be Rs 2,000 crore. Therefore, Ramayana Part-1 will have to earn Rs 5,000 crore for the break-even. The 2.5-fold figure is not a definite math, but in June 2026, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani also gave the same figure in a podcast. He said, "If you read the Rs 200 crore mark, first understand its breakdown. If a film earns Rs 100 crore, then its producer gets only 40% or 35% of it. The multiplexes (cinema halls) that show the film take 50% of the ticket earnings." Hirani further says, "In the first week, the theatre owners say take 50%, then in the second week they give 60%. A large part of the remaining earnings of the theatre goes to the distributor and the promotion of the film. This has always been the case." In fact, the revenue earned from film tickets is called gross collection. After deducting tax from it, the net collection is saved. After that, the rest of the amount goes to the distributor. Then according to the contract, its share reaches the producer. Apart from this, there is also the marketing cost of the film. However, apart from the sale of tickets, the film earns in many ways. Therefore, it cannot be said that Ramayana Part-1 will have to earn a full Rs 5000 crore from ticket sales for the break-even. According to Hirani, apart from tickets, there are 3 sources of income. The film is sold to satellite TV channels. It is also released on OTT and earns from music. The producer has to recover his cost from all these sources. It is being said that Ramayan will be released on Jio Hotstar after the theatrical run. Hirani says, "Earlier, the marketing budget was low. Now the marketing budget of any film has become much more than Rs 10 crore, as it is becoming difficult to reach the audience." Question 3: Will the film be able to earn Rs 5000 crore? Answer: The earnings of a film depend on its performance. It can have 3 dimensions... 1. Advance booking of the film 2. The first day earnings of the film 3. Audience Reviews and Earnings Speed in the first three weeks Question 4: What is so special about 'Ramayana-1' that Rs 2000 crore was spent? Answer: Most of the big budget films do not give details of the cost. However, the budget of the film can be estimated from the production scale, actors and technology. The specialty of Ramayana is its production scale, visual effects i.e. VFX, set design, expensive technical team, big musicians etc. 1. Huge expenditure on VFX and computer imagery 2. Expensive props, more than 150 sets worth crores of rupees 3. However, during the trailer launch of his film 'Mathrubhumi' on November 6, actor Salman Khan said about the film's budget of Rs 4000 crore, "The discussion should be on Ramayana, not its VFX or its production cost. This 4000 rupees... VFX, VFX, I don't think this is appropriate. We should talk about its characters from Ramayana, Rama, Ravana, Sita and scriptures." Question 5: Which elements of 'Ramayana-1' are being appreciated the most? Answer: There are 3 things that are being appreciated a lot - the VFX and action sequences of the film, the sequence of actor Yash in the character of Ravana and Jatayu and Pushpak saving mother Sita. The director of many blockbuster films like 'Robot 2.0'. Shankar wrote, "It is a pleasure to see Yash in every frame. He is a very attractive villain and he has given a very good performance. Congratulations to Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi too." A user wrote on X, "Playing the role of Ravana is a brave and different kind of selection for Yash. Playing a negative character and making every scene of the film his own. His presence is a threat. He looked fierce in the character of Ravana, which brought aura, danger and swag to the role." Shankar wrote, "I have never seen such visuals in Indian cinema. I highly appreciate Namit Malhotra and Nitesh Tiwari for taking it to the international level. Fantastic VFX, rich production value, amazing look and feel, A.R. Great sound with great music by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer!' However, some critics have also pointed out many flaws, such as the first part of 3 hours 15 minutes is a bit slow. It has an episode up to the abduction of Mother Sita. Most of the action has been kept for the next part. Apart from this, Ranbir Kapoor is not being praised much for his acting. The emotional connection between him and Sai Pallavi, who plays the role of mother Sita, is less felt. Some reviews have also described the music as weaker than expected. Note: These figures are based on industry trackers and media reports as of the night of 7th September 2026. The film has not been promoted in any way.