'Why watch Bollywood without the songs': Western audiences favour Ramayana's uncut Hindi version over shorter English dub

Ramayana has been released intertnationally as Ramayana: Rise of a Legend with an English dub, AI-led lip syncing, and a 30-minute shorter runtime.

Owing to its status as the biggest Indian film ever, Ramayana was released internationally on more screens than any other Indian film. Sony Pictures acquired the global distribution rights for the Nitesh Tiwari film, giving it 50,000 screens outside India, a good 10-15 times what an Indian film normally gets. The makers also cut a shorter version of the film for international release, christening it Ramayana: Rise of a Legend. The version, dubbed in English, is about 30 minutes shorter, cut that way to appeal to Western audiences. However, initial reactions from the West show that audiences there are lapping up the longer Hindi version.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor plays Rama in the film Ramayana

The two versions of Ramayana

Ramayana is 3 hours and 18 minutes long. The international version, Rise of a Legend, is 2 hours and 48 minutes long. It cuts out a few musical sequences, interludes, and much of the exposition, including a scene in which Lord Indra reaches out to Lord Vishnu after losing to Ravana. Additionally, the international version is dubbed into English, with Brahma AI technology used to sync lip movements with the lines. According to reports, the film’s makers wanted to present a tighter, more action-oriented version to the West. However, early critics’ reviews stated that the longer Hindi version was better, as it did not rush through the story. The viewers seem to agree.

Viewers swear by the Hindi version

On Reddit, after a viewer pointed out that the English version cut a lot of the songs, many were disappointed. One wrote, “Why anyone would go to a Bollywood movie about a foundational Indian text and not want to see the musical scenes is beyond me. That’s the best part!” Another echoed the sentiment and added, “Cut out the musical numbers? That's literally the best part of Bollywood/Tollywood films!!!!”

Many who watched the longer version defended the musical numbers, saying they were essential to the narrative. “The only notable dance scene outside of scattered community celebrations, was a Ravana solo sequence shortly after he comes to power, and it's quite good,” wrote one viewer from the US. Another viewer said that removing the songs distorts the experiences as the musical numbers are different from the usual ‘Bollywood song-and-dance routine’. The comment read, “Just finished it. Go with the longer runtime. The musical is not really the usual dance-and-sing musicals of Bollywood. And when you kinda remove them from the movie, a part of the storyline would be cut weirdly.”

Many swore by the Hindi version, saying they preferred to watch it with subtitles instead of the dubbed version. “Watch the Hindi with subtitles. 3h 15 min version; it's worth it and doesn't miss any beat of the storyline, which the English version does,” read one comment. Others said that the longer version was even more entertaining than Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. “Saw the 3:15 one last night. I am going to be downvoted for this, but I found it far more entertaining than the Odyssey. It was a 3D extravaganza and a quick three hours,” they wrote.

All about Ramayana

Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is the first of a two-part film. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. The first part is running in theatres, while the second part is set for a Diwali 2028 release.

Part One has started off strong at the box office, minting ₹935 crore (about $100 million) in its first seven days at the global box office.