Varanasi Trends After Ramayana Teaser Underwhelms Fans: Only Rajamouli Can Do Justice

The initial, underwhelming reception of the Ramayana teaser has dashed expectations the movie had built up in fans' minds. There's still seven months to go until Part 1 releases and it's an uphill task for director Nitesh Tiwari to deliver the best possible product. As per producer Namit Malhotra's own confession, the two part movie will cost ₹4000 crore or more to make, making this mythological adaptation the most expensive movie in Indian cinema.

Also read: Ramayana's ₹4000 Crore Budget Under Question After 'Mid' Teaser Drops

With early reviews of the Ramayana teaser pointing towards possible slip-ups in the VFX department, fans compared Nitesh's vision with SS Rajamouli. The Baahubali director's next is Varanasi, which not only spans continents but also timelines. One of the key sequences in this magnum opus will be of Mahesh Babu as Lord Rama. Teasing this, the filmmaker shared that he took around 60 days to film a 25-minute Ramayana sequence in Varanasi.

Also read: Did This Director Take A Swipe At Ranbir's Ramayana In Cryptic Post?

"On the first day, when I saw Mahesh dressed as Rama and doing a photoshoot, I had goosebumps," Rajamouli said. A small glimpse of Varanasi's Ramayana sequence is now being compared to visuals of the movie starring Ranbir Kapoor, with many asserting that Rajamouli is perhaps the only Indian filmmaker who is adept at handling movies of such huge scale. Compared to Ramayana movie, the budget of Varanasi is smaller and reportedly stands at ₹1300 crore.

As fans compared the two upcoming movies, Varanasi became a top trend on X, with hashtags going viral alongside Ramayana and its director Nitesh Tiwari. "#SSRajamouli with ₹400 Cr budget in 2017 vs Nitesh Tiwari with ₹4000 Cr budget in 2026. #Varanasi has INSANE POTENTIAL as we pointed out earlier that the scope of going wild with Varanasi is INSANE (sic)," read a comment on social media. Another netizen noted, "#Varanasi >>> #Ramayana If a Movie on #Mahabharata is ever made in Indian cinema, it should be only by S. S. Rajamouli (sic)."

Ramayana: Part 1 releases worldwide on Diwali 2026, followed by Part 2's theatrical debut on Diwali 2027. Varanasi, meanwhile, will arrive in April 2027.