Ranbir Kapoor Raises the Shiv Dhanush in Mumbai: “Ramayana” Campaign Opens With MrBeast in the Crowd, a 4-Hour Delay and a Media Boycott

The promotional campaign for the mythological epic “Ramayana”, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, officially launched today in Mumbai with a special event, where Ranbir Kapoor stole the main spotlight. In the central moment of the evening, the actor who plays Lord Rama joined his hands in prayer, raised the legendary Shiv Dhanush bow and then placed it back in its place — a symbolic gesture that ignited the enthusiasm of the hall.

The surprise of the evening was the presence of the world’s most-followed YouTuber, MrBeast. Ranbir explained to him that Rama is Maryada Purushottam, the “ideal man”, who sacrificed royal life to keep his father’s promise and fulfill dharma, the divine duty. When a paparazzo shouted “Jai Shri Ram, Mr Beast”, Ranbir urged the YouTuber to answer with the chant “Jai Shri Ram” — and he repeated it in front of the cameras.

The event was also attended by Sai Pallavi (Sita), Ravi Dubey (Lakshman) and producer Namit Malhotra. But the evening did not pass without shadows: the event was delayed by about 4 hours and a large part of the media decided to boycott it, a sign of discontent that became a topic of its own on social networks.

“Ramayana” is a two-part franchise produced by Prime Focus Studios, Monster Mind Creations and DNEG. The first part hits cinemas on Diwali 2026 (November 6–9, 2026), while the second in 2027; the film will be shown in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. The music is composed by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer, in the latter’s debut in Indian cinema.

The cast gathers big names: Yash debuts in Bollywood as Ravana, Sunny Deol plays Lord Hanuman, while Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Kajal Aggarwal, Arun Govil, Kunal Kapoor and Adinath Kothare complete the roles of Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari, King Dashrath, Lord Indra and Bharat, as IANS reports.