Ravana's throne in Ramayana was made out of 24K gold, cost ₹1 crore; Surpanakha's chariot cost ₹1.5 crore, reveals art director

Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is the most expensive Indian film ever made, with a reported budget of around ₹1600 crore for Part One.

Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana is the most expensive Indian film ever made, with a reported budget of ₹1600 crore for Part One. Much of the budget has been spent on creating the extraordinary visuals through VFX and CGI. But a large part of it also went into the grand production design. In a recent interview, the film’s art director revealed that, contrary to popular belief, grand items like Ravana’s throne, the flying Pushpak Vimana, and even Surpanakha’s chariot were all real models, painstakingly built at great cost.

Yash plays Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana.

Ramayana art director opens up on Ravana’s throne

One of the most prominent sequences in Ramayana is when Ravana conquers Lanka and takes over the rule from Kuber. A scene shows the newly anointed king creating a throne of gold and sitting on it as he looks at his subjects. Ramesh Andhale, the art director of Ramayana, told Prabhat Khabar that the grand throne took the film’s art design department four months to make. Ramesh added that at first, a clay model of the entire throne was created based on the designs, following which the team constructed the throne using fibre. But what added to its visual appeal was that real 24-karat molten gold was used in its decoration. According to Ramesh, gold leafing was applied to the throne, and the final product cost around ₹1 crore.

Surpanakha’s chariot, used in only one scene, cost ₹1.5 crore

Ramesh added that similar painstaking attention to detail was done for almost all of the film’s major objects and sets. He opened up about the gold-plated chariot that carried Surpanakha (played by Rakul Preet Singh). The chariot appears in only one scene when Surpanakha visits Lord Rama and Lakshman in the Panchavati forest. Yet, the production design team went all out in its making. Ramesh said that the chariot took three months to complete, as the team had to make it functional while getting the balance right between functionality and aesthetics. It cost ₹1.5 crore to make, according to him.

Rakul Preet Singh aboard Surpanakha's chariot in a still from the film.

All about Ramayana

Produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, Ramayana is planned as a two-part film. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. The first part released worldwide on November 5, 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2028.