After months of speculation, Yash has finally confirmed playing Ravana in the much-awaited magnum opus Ramayan, helmed by Nitesh Tiwari. Recently in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, the KGF actor confirmed that he will be seen as Ravana in the film, which also features Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram and Sai Pallavi as Sita. Apart from that, the actor also confirmed being a co-producer of the film. He also shared an interesting anecdote about how he became a part of this film.
During the interview, Yash shared that he was in Los Angeles working on the VFX part of his upcoming film Toxic, which is when Namit Malhotra, of the VFX company DNEG and Prime Focus, got in touch with him to discuss about Ramayan. “He spoke about Ramayan. They had been working on it since many years and he said that ‘I have this vision, this is what is happening and I am not able to put it together with the cast and all of that,'” Yash recalled.
Looking back on how Namit asked him if he was willing to play Ravana, the actor said, “If the character is treated like a character… if this doesn’t happen today, then the film won’t happen. To make a film with that kind of budget, you need those kind of actors to come together and work for the project. It has to be beyond yourself and your stardom. We have to place the project and the vision first.”
On being asked if he would have wanted to play another character in the movie, Yash said, “It’s a very fascinating character. I wouldn’t have done it for any other reason. In Ramayan, if you had asked me ‘would you play any other character?’ Probably not. For me, Ravana is the most exciting character to play as an actor so I really like the shades and the nuances of particular character. There’s vast scope to present it in a very different way.”
Being made on a budget of Rs 835 crore reportedly, Ramayan is scheduled to release in 2025 and is currently in the pre-production stage.
