Nitesh Tiwari's 'Ramayana: Rise of a Legend' premiered at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on October 27, with Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra walking the red carpet before the first reactions landed online.

One viewer told outlets that 'there is just nothing like Ramayana' in the cinematic universe, saying he had not felt this way since the first 'Lord of the Rings' film in 2001 and calling the movie 'very grand' and 'very epic.'

Filmfare reports the early international reactions have set anticipation soaring ahead of the November 5 worldwide release.

The lead performances dominate the praise. One viewer quoted by The Indian Express called the film 'spectacular' — 'Ranbir Kapoor was sublime, Yash was magnetic' — while reviewer Theresa Simoni said Kapoor's turn as Prince Rama 'moved me to tears.'

Yash's Ravana drew particular acclaim: one review called him 'the biggest highlight and is superb, especially in his introduction portions,' though the same reviewer felt Kapoor and Sai Pallavi were 'solid' rather than transcendent, saying the divine aura and emotional weight 'don't always fully translate on screen.'

The ending is already a talking point. One viewer told The Times of India that when the screen went black on the cliffhanger, 'I literally said, no, like, I shouted out loud, no' — and added that a post-credit scene teases an iconic character audiences have been anticipating.

The reviewer also said he chose the original Hindi version, over three hours long, rather than the English-dubbed cut, which he said was trimmed by 30 minutes, describing the experience as feeling 'like I just left a fairy tale.'

Not every reaction is rapturous. Hindustan Times reports that the score by AR Rahman and Hans Zimmer was called 'the biggest letdown' by one reviewer, who argued the Indian-Hollywood blend 'largely backfires and ends up feeling like neither.'

The same review said the film 'leans more on spectacle and action than drama and emotion,' with a second half that drags because of where Part 1 ends — lengthy action blocks that 'don't create much impact.'

Some scenes were criticized for a noticeable green-screen feel and 'cartoonish asuras,' leaving the verdict 'a mixed bag with so much more potential.'

Amid the buzz, PTC Punjabi reports that Nitesh Tiwari addressed speculation about artificial intelligence in the film's dubbing at the premiere.

He said AI has not been used to create voices — 'all the voices are dubbed by the artists' — and is only used to match actors' lip movements with dubbed dialogue so audiences in other countries can watch in their own languages.

The clarification comes as AI's impact on dubbing artists has become a heated industry debate.

The first instalment opens worldwide on November 5, 2026, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, including IMAX — The Indian Express reports more than 100 countries and roughly 50,000 screens, with Sony Pictures handling international distribution and Dharma Productions the Hindi market.

The ensemble includes Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, Arun Govil as King Dashrath and Rakul Preet Singh as Surpanakha.

According to The Indian Express, the sequel — initially slated for Diwali 2027 — could be pushed to Diwali 2028 to allow more time for filming the large-scale war sequences.