The excitement around Ramayana has been enormous ever since the project was announced, but the film has also found itself dealing with a familiar problem in the age of social media: audiences forming strong opinions from a few minutes of promotional footage. After the film's teaser and trailer attracted criticism for their visual effects, actor Ranbir Kapoor, director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra have now addressed the debate.

The criticism has largely centred on the computer-generated imagery shown in the promotional material. You know what? some viewers felt that certain characters and environments did not look as realistic as expected from a project of this scale. Others went a step further, suggesting on social media that parts of the footage appeared to have been created using artificial intelligence.

For the makers, however, that interpretation does not reflect the amount of work involved in producing the film.

Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Rama, has responded to what he sees as premature judgement. The actor questioned the idea of assessing such a technically demanding film simply by watching its promotional footage on a phone. He also pointed out that people who have little understanding of the visual-effects process may not realise how much work takes place behind a few seconds of finished footage.

His comments have brought the VFX discussion back into focus.

In today's filmmaking environment, audiences have become extremely familiar with digital imagery. Computer-generated characters, environments and action sequences are now common across big-budget movies. At the same time, the rise of generative AI has made sophisticated-looking images and videos accessible to almost anyone.

That has changed the way viewers interpret movie visuals.

A complicated VFX shot that once appeared to be the result of hundreds of artists working across multiple departments can now be compared online with AI-generated material within seconds. As a result, filmmakers face a new challenge: convincing audiences that the visual work behind a major production involves much more than simply generating an image.

that's precisely the point Namit Malhotra has been trying to make.

Malhotra, whose DNEG is responsible for the film's visual effects, has emphasised the scale of the work involved in Ramayana. He has argued that audiences should experience the film in the format for which it was designed rather than reaching a final conclusion from clips watched on small screens. The producer has particularly urged viewers to see the movie in IMAX before judging its visuals.

His argument is important because Ramayana isn't being presented as a conventional historical or period drama. The film requires an enormous digital world to recreate locations, characters, creatures, battles and other elements connected to the epic story.

That means the VFX team has to create an environment in which live performances and digital imagery can work together without appearing disconnected.

it's a complicated process.

An actor may perform against a largely empty set or within a partially constructed environment. Later, artists build digital surroundings, enhance physical sets, add characters and creatures, adjust lighting and integrate everything into a single frame. A sequence that lasts only a few seconds on screen can therefore represent weeks or months of work.

Nitesh Tiwari has also addressed the criticism while acknowledging that the film is still undergoing work. The director has indicated that Ramayana: Part 1 is close to completion, suggesting that audiences haven't necessarily seen the final version of every visual effect yet.

That distinction matters.

Film trailers are promotional products, not necessarily identical to the final theatrical presentation. Visual-effects shots can continue to be refined during post-production. Lighting, textures, facial details, compositing and digital environments can all change before the final release.

For a film as ambitious as Ramayana, that process becomes even more significant.

The project is being mounted on an unusually large scale, with Ranbir Kapoor playing Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash portraying Ravana. The cast also includes several well-known names, while the technical team includes major international talent. The film is being developed as a two-part cinematic adaptation and is expected to be one of the biggest Indian film projects in terms of scale and visual ambition.

The expectations surrounding it are therefore enormous.

But the biggest challenge may not be technical. It may be emotional.

Ramayana isn't an unfamiliar fictional universe created specifically for cinema. it's a story deeply known to Indian audiences and has been interpreted through literature, television, theatre, animation and films for generations. That means viewers are likely to scrutinise everything from costumes and character appearances to locations and battle sequences.

there's also a strong emotional connection involved.

For many viewers, the characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman and Ravana aren't simply movie characters. they're part of a cultural and spiritual tradition. Any modern cinematic interpretation therefore carries expectations that go beyond entertainment.

The filmmakers are attempting to balance that familiarity with a contemporary visual language.

that's perhaps why the VFX discussion has become so intense even before the movie has reached theatres.

Social media has given viewers an immediate platform to express their reactions. Positive comments can spread quickly, but so can criticism. A few disputed frames can dominate conversations surrounding a film within hours.

Ramayana has experienced exactly that.

Earlier promotional material had already generated mixed reactions, with some viewers praising the ambition while others questioned the look of certain digital elements. The latest trailer has revived that debate, with comparisons to gaming graphics and AI-generated imagery appearing online.

The filmmakers, however, appear unwilling to let those reactions define the project before its completion.

For Ranbir Kapoor, the issue is also connected to the audience's understanding of the filmmaking process. An actor can spend months working on a project without knowing exactly how the final digital environment will look. Performance, costume, camera movement and visual effects eventually have to come together during post-production.

Playing Rama in a film of this scale therefore requires a different kind of acting challenge.

The performance must work even when much of the world around the actor is digitally created. Expressions, movement and physical reactions have to fit environments that may not have existed during filming.

The same applies to Yash's portrayal of Ravana and Sai Pallavi's performance as Sita.

The filmmakers are attempting to build a complete visual universe around these performances rather than simply adding occasional digital effects to otherwise conventional footage.

That ambition is one reason why Malhotra has been particularly defensive of the VFX effort.

The producer's association with DNEG is another major factor. The British-Indian visual-effects company has worked on numerous major international productions, and its involvement has helped create expectations that Ramayana will meet a very high technical standard.

That creates both an advantage and a burden.

If the film succeeds visually, it could represent a major moment for Indian cinema's ability to mount large-scale mythological storytelling with global technical standards. But if the final product falls short of expectations, the criticism is likely to become even louder because the project has been marketed around its scale and visual ambition.

For now, the makers are asking audiences to wait.

That may be the most sensible approach because the real test can't come from a short trailer. A complete film offers context, continuity and atmosphere that promotional clips can't provide.

A visual effect that looks unusual in isolation may work differently when combined with music, sound design, editing, performances and the surrounding sequence.

Cinema is ultimately a collective experience.

This is particularly true for a film like Ramayana, where visual spectacle is only one part of the equation. The performances, emotional storytelling, music, action and narrative will all contribute to the final impression.

The VFX debate is therefore unlikely to determine the film's fate by itself.

What it has done, however, is demonstrate just how closely Ramayana is being watched.

The project has already become one of the most anticipated Indian films of the year. Actually, every promotional release is likely to receive intense scrutiny, and every new image will probably trigger another round of discussion.

The makers can't control that conversation, but they can control the finished product.

Let me tell you, nitesh tiwari and his team now have the opportunity to demonstrate what the film looks like when all the individual pieces are finally assembled. Ranbir Kapoor's performance, Sai Pallavi's Sita, Yash's Ravana and the enormous digital world created around them will ultimately have to work together on the big screen.

Until then, the VFX criticism remains just one part of the larger conversation.

The most important point raised by the film's team is that visual-effects work can't always be judged from a handful of screenshots or short clips. At the same time, audience reactions can't simply be dismissed either. When a film carries such enormous expectations, viewers are naturally going to scrutinise what they see.

The real answer will arrive when the finished movie reaches theatres.

If Ramayana delivers the visual grandeur its makers have promised, the current criticism could quickly become a footnote. If it does not, the early concerns will appear more significant in hindsight.

For now, Ranbir Kapoor, Nitesh Tiwari and Namit Malhotra are standing behind their work and asking audiences to reserve their final verdict.

The debate may continue online, but the ultimate judgement will belong to the people sitting inside theatres, watching the entire story unfold, rather than deciding its quality from a few seconds on a phone screen.