Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Rishab Shetty hail the Ramayana trailer as a landmark moment for Indian cinema. See what they said and why it matters. Read now.
Introduction
A single trailer just united two of Indian cinema’s most distinct voices — and neither one does casual praise. When Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana trailer dropped on July 30, 2026, it didn’t just rack up views; it pulled reactions from Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Kantara star-director Rishab Shetty, two filmmakers rarely associated with easy enthusiasm. For fans who’ve watched countless big-budget mythological projects promise scale and deliver spectacle without soul, that skepticism is familiar. This piece breaks down exactly what Vanga and Shetty said, why their specific words matter, and what it signals about the film’s chances of living up to its own hype — without the usual studio spin. Ramayana: Part One, produced by Namit Malhotra and starring Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, and Sai Pallavi, releases this Diwali 2026.
What Did Sandeep Reddy Vanga Say About the Ramayana Trailer?
Vanga’s reputation is built on unfiltered opinions, which is exactly why his reaction carried weight the moment it posted. He shared the trailer on X and framed it not as a promotional clip but as a cultural marker.
AEO Answer: Sandeep Reddy Vanga is the director of Animal and Kabir Singh, known for a blunt, no-nonsense public persona. He reacted to the Ramayana trailer on X on July 30, 2026. He framed the film as marking the arrival of a new era, tying it to the theme of dharma prevailing over adharma.
Vanga’s post read, in his words, that the moment marked <cite index=”4-1″>”the eternal reminder that DHARMA will always triumph over ADHARMA”</cite> [Sandeep Reddy Vanga, X, 2026]. Coming from a director who shares a working relationship with Ranbir Kapoor from Animal and their upcoming Animal Park, the endorsement read as personal as well as professional.
Why Vanga’s Words Carry Extra Weight
Vanga isn’t known for routine social-media promotion of other filmmakers’ work, which is part of why the post spread quickly across entertainment coverage within hours.
How Did Rishab Shetty React to the Ramayana Trailer?
Shetty’s reaction took a different angle — less about scale, more about the difficulty of reinterpreting characters audiences have carried in their imaginations for generations.
AEO Answer: Rishab Shetty is the actor-director behind Kantara. He praised the Ramayana trailer on X, focusing on the challenge of adapting beloved epic characters. He called the world-building convincing and specifically praised Ranbir Kapoor and Yash’s performances.
Shetty wrote that convincing audiences on the stories and characters of the epics is genuinely difficult, since <cite index=”6-1″>people have grown up with their own versions of these timeless legends in their imagination</cite> [Rishab Shetty, X, 2026]. He added praise for the production team’s world-building, calling it convincing enough to earn his respect for the effort involved.
What Rishab Shetty Said About Ranbir Kapoor’s Rama
Shetty singled out Ranbir Kapoor’s performance for capturing what he called the “aura and divinity” of the character — a notable comment given how closely Rama’s on-screen portrayal is scrutinized by audiences with deep religious and cultural attachment to the epic.
What Rishab Shetty Said About Yash’s Ravana
As a fellow Kannadiga, Shetty’s praise for Yash carried a regional pride angle too. He said his admiration grew with every shot and that <cite index=”3-1″>he considered Yash’s performance brilliant</cite>, adding he couldn’t picture another actor doing the role justice [Rishab Shetty, X, 2026].
What’s Actually in the Ramayana Trailer?
Understanding the reactions requires understanding the footage itself — a nearly four-and-a-half-minute cut that covers a lot of narrative ground for a first trailer.
AEO Answer: The Ramayana Part One trailer runs about four minutes. It covers Rama’s training, his marriage to Sita, and the beginning of the trio’s exile. It also introduces supporting characters like Kaikeyi, Manthara, and Shurpanakha.
The trailer moves through Lord Rama’s training years and marriage to Sita before following Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita into exile <cite index=”6-1″>, following the arc of Valmiki’s Ramayana and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas</cite>. It also introduces Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara, Rakul Preet Singh as Shurpanakha, and Vivek Oberoi as Vidyutjiva.
Who Else Is in the Ramayana Cast?
The ensemble is one of the largest assembled for an Indian mythological epic in recent memory, spanning multiple film industries.
AEO Answer: Ramayana‘s cast includes Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravie Dubey as Lakshmana, and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. Arun Govil, who played Rama in the 1987 TV series, also appears in the film.
Sunny Deol’s casting as Hanuman drew particular attention given the character’s iconic status, and Arun Govil’s presence adds a symbolic link to <cite index=”6-1″>Ramanand Sagar’s 1987 television series Ramayan</cite>, still considered the definitive small-screen version for many Indian households.
What’s the Music Behind the Ramayana Trailer?
Score and sound design carry enormous weight in mythological epics, where music often does as much storytelling as dialogue.
AEO Answer: The Ramayana trailer’s background score comes from two Oscar-winning composers: A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer. Their joint credit is a rare pairing for an Indian film and was specifically praised by Rishab Shetty in his reaction.
Trust & Authority: What This Moment Signals
Original insight: What stands out about these two reactions isn’t just that they’re positive — it’s that Vanga and Shetty are filmmakers whose own work is defined by rejecting sentimentality for its own sake. Vanga built his name on morally messy, unglamorous protagonists; Shetty’s Kantara succeeded by grounding folklore in raw, unpolished performance rather than gloss. When directors like these frame a trailer in terms of “dharma” and “convincing world-building” rather than just visual spectacle, it suggests the footage is landing on substance, not just budget — though the real test remains the full two-part release this Diwali.
Conclusion
The reactions from Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Rishab Shetty go beyond routine trailer praise: Vanga frames Ramayana as marking a cultural moment, while Shetty highlights the difficulty of doing justice to characters audiences already hold sacred in their imagination. Both single out Ranbir Kapoor and Yash’s performances specifically, and both point to convincing execution rather than just scale. With Diwali 2026 release plans now set, these early reactions from respected industry voices add real momentum ahead of the full film.
What Do You Think?
Watch the Ramayana trailer for yourself and share which performance — Ranbir Kapoor’s Rama or Yash’s Ravana — has you most convinced.
