Ramayana is one of the most epic projects on the 2026 movie schedule, especially because it tells the famed story that’s been told for thousands of years. But what did it take for its star to embody one of the beloved roles in India? Ranbir Kapoor told us a bit about how he trained to become Lord Rama as the movie continues to take on the global box office.
When CinemaBlend chatted with Kapoor, who is one of India’s biggest stars, about taking on the role of Rama, he detailed what was involved in playing the great hero. In his words:
I did take lots of classes. I joined an archery school in New York for some time, and then when I came back to India, I worked with an Olympic archer. I had this board at my house, and every day I used to practice. But, eventually what became harder on the film set was that I had to imagine the arrow because the arrow was created in CG because they were all powerful weapons.
Whoa, he did it all! Being a great archer is certainly a big part of it since Rama must be able to believably be one of the best there ever was. And the character's skills are really put to the test in the movie when he proves to be the only person who can lift and string Lord Shiva’s bow.
While Kapoor hasn’t named which Olympic archer he worked with on Ramayana, it certainly sounds like he really committed to the role, and having a pro helped him be fully convincing as Rama. It’s reminiscent of Jennifer Lawrence working with Olympic archer Khatuna Lorig to train for The Hunger Games movies.
Though, as he brought up, he wasn’t always drawing back an actual bow due to it often being added by the visual effects department after he had shot the movie. There was a lot of imagination needed on the side of the actors in order for Ramayana to be brought to life. The project, which reportedly cost around $400 million to make, implemented a mix of their own LED volume stages with a bunch of practical sets. Kapoor also told us this about what he learned to play Rama:
Being an actor, doing films enables you to learn new skills with every project. But with Ramayana in particular, I got to learn so much. I got to do different kinds of action, learn archery. I practised yoga for a long time. It's just been quite such an amazing process trying to make this character believable.
Kapoor definitely did an incredible job of playing the hero who is an avatar of the god Vishnu, who is reincarnated to take on the villainous character of Ravana. After hearing this story, I wouldn’t challenge him to an archery match anytime soon – unless you enjoy losing!
Along with this conversation, CinemaBlend also had the chance to speak to Ramayana's director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra, who clarified the movie’s use of A.I. in order to provide more realistic dubbing for a global audience. Malhotra also told us how his love of Christopher Nolan movies led to Hans Zimmer becoming one half of the composing team.
Ramayana was beaten by Godzilla Minus Zero in its first weekend here in the United States, but it’s doing bigger business internationally. You can check out the results of Kapoor’s intense training by seeing Ramayana yourself in theaters now.
