'Why watch Bollywood without the songs': Western audiences favour Ramayana's uncut Hindi version over shorter English dub
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Owing to its status as the biggest Indian movie ever, Ramayana was rolled out internationally on more screens than any other Indian movie. Sony Pictures acquired the global distribution rights for the Nitesh Tiwari movie, giving it 50,000 screens outside India, a good 10-15 times what an Indian movie normally gets. The makers also cut a shorter version of the movie for international rollout, 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.
Adding to this, Star Ranbir Kapoor plays Rama in the movie 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. As per the latest buzz, the movie’s makers wanted to present a tighter, more action-oriented version to the West. However, early critics’ reviews shared that the longer Hindi version was better, as it did not rush through the story. The viewers seem to agree.
Meanwhile, 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!!!!”
Notably, View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ramayana: Rise of a Legend (@ramayanamovie)
As per the latest buzz, 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 shared 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.”
In further updates, 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 shared 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.
On top of that, 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 movie. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the movie 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 rollout.
Part One has started off strong at the ticket-window, minting ₹ 935 crore rupees (about $100 million) in its first seven days at the global ticket-window.
Source: Hindustan Times