'Ramayana' tops list of India's 10 most expensive films

A report has listed the 10 most expensive Indian films. Nitesh Tiwari's two-part 'Ramayana', with a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore, leads the list; starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi, its first part releases at Diwali. Others include Yash's 'Toxic' at an estimated Rs 700-800 crore, 'Kalki 2898 AD' at Rs 600 crore, 'RRR' at Rs 550 crore, and 'Pushpa 2' at about Rs 410 crore.

Written by AI from Cinema · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 30 Sept 2026, 4:50 pm IST

Source

Cinema · read the original report ↗

#indian cinema#film budgets#ramayana#rrr#box office

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

Nitesh Tiwari's two-part 'Ramayana' has a combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore, making it India's most expensive film — Source itself says the figure is 'being reported' (बताया जा रहा है); no producer or studio named as source of the number.
'Toxic' starring Yash is budgeted at an estimated Rs 700-800 crore and releases in August — Presented as an estimate with no attribution; release month stated without dated confirmation.
'Kalki 2898 AD' cost about Rs 600 crore and 'RRR' about Rs 550 crore — Figures appear in the source as approximations, unattributed.
'Pushpa 2: The Rule' was made on about Rs 410 crore and earned more than Rs 1,800 crore — Both figures appear in the source without a named source or accounting basis.
'RRR' song 'Naatu Naatu' won an Oscar — Stated as fact in the source and internally consistent with the headline reference; widely reported historical event, not independently verified here.

Written by AI from Cinema · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Entertainment Analyst

With a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore, 'Ramayana' would sit at the very top of India's most-expensive films list — less a movie story than a signal of how far the industry is now willing to push financial risk. The same list cuts both ways: 'RRR', 'Kalki 2898 AD' and 'Pushpa 2' show scale paying off, while 'Adipurush' and 'The Raja Saab' are reminders that spending is never a guarantee of success. Splitting the film into two parts and timing part one for Diwali concentrates the risk and stretches the recovery runway at once.

A Rs 4,000 crore outlay cannot be recovered at the box office alone — it implies a model leaning on streaming, satellite, music, overseas markets and ancillary revenue.
The list is dominated by southern productions, reflecting how the centre of gravity for big-scale Indian filmmaking has shifted toward the pan-India market.
The 'Adipurush' experience showed how exacting audience expectations are for Ramayana material; scrutiny of VFX and dialogue quality is likely to be even sharper this time.
Casting Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi together reads as a deliberate play for Hindi, Kannada and Telugu audiences simultaneously.
A Diwali release suits a mythological subject culturally, but festival windows also mean heavy competition and contested screen share.

What to watch — Watch part one's Diwali opening and first-week word of mouth — the marketing and release strategy for part two will hinge almost entirely on it.

All the budget figures here are reported estimates rather than producer-confirmed accounts, and the story establishes no recovery plan or revenue projections.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Indian cinema's production budgets have expanded sharply, with makers spending heavily on VFX, large sets and mythological or science-fiction spectacle aimed at global audiences. A report compiling India's 10 most expensive films places Nitesh Tiwari's two-part 'Ramayana' at the top with a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore. The list spans Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada productions, from 'Kalki 2898 AD' and 'RRR' to 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' and 'Brahmastra', and includes both blockbusters and expensive box-office failures.

Key facts

'Ramayana', directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra, is being made in two parts with a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore — set to be the costliest film in Indian cinema history.
'Ramayana' stars Ranbir Kapoor, Yash and Sai Pallavi, with music by Oscar winners AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer; part one releases at Diwali.
Yash's period gangster action thriller 'Toxic', directed by Geetu Mohandas, has an estimated budget of Rs 700-800 crore and releases in August this year.
Nag Ashwin's science-fiction film 'Kalki 2898 AD', starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan, was made on about Rs 600 crore.
SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' with Jr NTR and Ram Charan was made on roughly Rs 550 crore; its song 'Naatu Naatu' won an Oscar.
'Adipurush', based on the Ramayana and starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan, cost about Rs 500-700 crore but was a box-office disaster, criticised for weak VFX and dialogues.
Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar's 'fic thriller '2.0', directed by S Shankar, cost about Rs 450-600 crore.
'Pushpa 2: The Rule' (Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, director Sukumar) was made on about Rs 410 crore and earned over Rs 1,800 crore.

Timeline

Not dated in the source (released earlier)'2.0', 'RRR', 'Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva', 'Adipurush', 'Kalki 2898 AD', 'Pushpa 2: The Rule', 'GOAT' and 'The Raja Saab' release, forming the earlier high-budget list.
August 2026 (First Published: August 03, 2026)Report listing India's 10 most expensive films published.
August, this yearYash's 'Toxic' scheduled for release.
DiwaliFirst part of 'Ramayana' to release in theatres.

Who has a stake

Producers such as Namit Malhotra (Ramayana) — Recovering record budgets of up to Rs 4,000 crore requires global-scale box-office performance.
Lead actors — Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Vijay, Rajinikanth — Careers tied to the success or failure of high-budget spectacles; Prabhas's 'The Raja Saab' flopped.
Directors — Nitesh Tiwari, Nag Ashwin, SS Rajamouli, Sukumar, Geetu Mohandas, S Shankar, Venkat Prabhu, Ayan Mukerji — Reputation and bankability rest on delivering returns on large-scale VFX-driven films.
VFX and technical industry — Large budget shares go to set design, special effects, advanced VFX and de-aging technology, as in 'GOAT'.
Audiences and exhibitors — Access to world-class cinematic experiences; also exposed to costly films that fail, like 'Adipurush'.

Why it matters

Budgets of Indian films are now being compared with Hollywood's, signalling a shift from star-driven production to technology- and scale-driven spectacle across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada industries. But the list also shows the risk: films like 'Adipurush' and 'The Raja Saab' failed despite budgets of hundreds of crores, while 'Pushpa 2' earned over Rs 1,800 crore on Rs 410 crore. The economics of spectacle — and India's growing soft-power reach after 'RRR's Oscar — is now a core question for the industry.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

'Ramayana' (dir. Nitesh Tiwari, prod. Namit Malhotra): two parts, reported combined budget Rs 4,000 crore — India's costliest film.
Music of 'Ramayana': AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer, both Oscar winners.
'Naatu Naatu' from SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' (budget approx Rs 550 crore) won an Oscar.
'Kalki 2898 AD' — director Nag Ashwin, budget approx Rs 600 crore, blends Indian mythology with a futuristic world.
'Pushpa 2: The Rule' — budget approx Rs 410 crore, collections over Rs 1,800 crore.
'GOAT' (Thalapathy Vijay, dir. Venkat Prabhu, approx Rs 400 crore) used de-aging technology.

Mains framing

The rise of Rs 400-4,000 crore Indian films marks a structural change in the country's film economy: capital is now concentrated in a handful of mythological, science-fiction and pan-India action spectacles built on VFX, elaborate sets and technologies such as de-aging, rather than on star casts alone. Drivers include pan-India and global distribution ambitions, post-'RRR' international recognition (its 'Naatu Naatu' won an Oscar), and competition with Hollywood-scale production values; southern industries — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada — lead several entries on the list. The implications are double-edged: 'Pushpa 2' recovered Rs 410 crore to earn over Rs 1,800 crore, while 'Adipurush' (Rs 500-700 crore) and 'The Raja Saab' (about Rs 405 crore) failed, showing that budget cannot substitute for writing and credible visual execution. A sustainable path would balance scale with script quality and VFX capability, diversify revenue beyond theatrical release, and treat such films as soft-power exports while limiting the systemic risk of few, very large bets — though the source does not detail any policy or industry mechanism for this.

Key terms

VFX (visual effects): Computer-generated imagery and effects work that absorbs a large share of these films' budgets.
De-aging technology: Digital technique used in 'GOAT' to show a younger version of Thalapathy Vijay on screen.
Pan-India film: A film made on a large scale for release across language markets nationwide, as with 'Pushpa 2' and 'Kalki 2898 AD'.
'Kalki 2898 AD': Nag Ashwin's approx Rs 600-crore science-fiction film mixing Indian mythology with a futuristic setting.
'Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva': Ayan Mukerji's fantasy-adventure on Indian mythological weapons, made on about Rs 375 crore.

Practice questions

Indian film budgets have crossed Rs 1,000 crore for single franchises. Discuss the economic and cultural implications of this shift towards big-budget spectacle cinema.
'Big budgets do not guarantee box-office success.' Examine with reference to recent high-cost Indian films that succeeded and those that failed.
How has the global success of films like 'RRR' shaped India's cultural soft power? Discuss.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

Next storyINDIA Alliance Meeting Today in Delhi →

← All stories