'Ramayana: Part One' Gets First Pay-Per-View on JioHotstar — SkimNews
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- "Ramayana: Part One" will be available as a standalone pay-per-view purchase on JioHotstar after its theatrical run, through a deal with Prime Focus Studios that both companies described as JioHotstar's first pay-per-view offering, streamed in the best quality each supported device can handle.
- The film opens worldwide on Nov. 5, timed to the Diwali festival, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, with IMAX 3D among its formats.
- Sony Pictures Entertainment is releasing the film globally, while Karan Johar's Dharma Productions handles Indian distribution.
- The cast features Ranbir Kapoor as exiled prince Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, with Arun Govil, Lara Dutta, Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Kunal Kapoor and Kajal Aggarwal rounding out the ensemble.
- Oscar-winning composers Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman are scoring the film, and DNEG, an eight-time Oscar winner, is co-producing with Prime Focus and Yash's Monster Mind Creations on VFX.
- Producer Namit Malhotra, DNEG's founder and CEO, said India's cinema infrastructure cannot reach everyone who holds the epic close, calling JioHotstar the "natural partner" to bring the film into living rooms after theaters.
- JioStar chair Nita M. Ambani framed the move as carrying a "civilizational treasure" to a new generation, with the live-action two-part project adapted by Shridhar Raghavan from Valmiki's epic.
Why it matters: JioHotstar is breaking from its subscription-only model with its first pay-per-view title, using India's most ambitious tentpole to test whether Indian audiences will pay a premium for at-home access to a theatrical epic. For the producers, the deal extends a high-budget release to millions of households that India's limited theatrical footprint cannot reach, with the company's own executive citing infrastructure gaps as the reason for the partnership.
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