Yash confirms playing Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan: ‘Most exciting character to play, vast scope to present it in a different way’

Toxic star Yash has announced that he will be playing Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayan. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Sai Pallavi as Sita.

Yash declares he will be playing Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayan. (Photo: Yash/Instagram)

Yash has finally announced that he will be playing the role of Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming film Ramayan, with Ranbir Kapoor playing Lord Rama and Sai Pallavi playing Sita. There have been speculations about the same for many months now but Yash has finally cleared the air in a recent interview, as he also announced that he is co-producing the film, which he plans to present internationally.

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter India, Yash, who will be seen next in Toxic, was asked how he became a part of the project and the actor revealed that he was in Los Angeles at the time and was trying to figure out the VFX work for Toxic when he was contacted by Namit Malhotra, of VFX company DNEG and Prime Focus, and as they met and jammed, Namit spoke to him 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 revealed and added that upon further conversations, they both realised that they have the common goal of putting a film like this on “the international platform”.

Yash recalled that Namit “hesitatingly” asked if he would want to play Ravana, to which the KGF 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.” Yash shared that he was then told that they had been working on it for a few years and he met director Nitesh Tiwari for more discussions on how to take the project forward.

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Upon being asked about the casting of Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi as Lord Rama and Sita, Yash said that Ranbir was already a part of the project when he came in. “Sai Pallavi, we took a collaborative decision. I believe this film has to have everybody from south and north for it to be a… Nitesh ji always wanted Sai Pallavi. I also said that it’s a great choice,” he said.

Yash, who is best known for playing Rocky Bhai in the KGF franchise, said that if he was given the choice of playing another character in the film, he probably wouldn’t have taken it up. “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. As an actor, I am very excited. Hopefully, it’s going to be a very unique approach to it,” he said.

Yash is the first lead actor of the film to declare his role in the film. So far, there have been no official announcements on Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan. An earlier report suggested that the movie is being made with a budget of Rs 835 crore.

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