Mahesh Bhatt reveals why he missed Ramayana premiere

Mahesh Bhatt skipped the premiere of what is arguably the biggest film of his son-in-law Ranbir Kapoor’s career, choosing instead to see it in a regular cinema hall with strangers. In his words, that made the experience ‘real’ and ‘organic’.

He also casts his mind back to the first time he heard the 'Ramayana', recited by his mother.

Full of admiration for director Nitesh Tiwari and the entire team behind the film, he confesses without hesitation that he was moved to tears as the end credits rolled and the lights came up.

Mahesh Bhatt recalls his earliest memories of the ‘Ramayana’

Speaking to Variety India, Mahesh Bhatt was asked about his earliest memories of the ‘Ramayana’. He replied, “Before I saw Rama on a screen, I knew him through my mother’s voice.

She told my brother, my sisters and me about the “Ramayana.” I was a child. I did not understand all of it, but it entered my consciousness. At 12, I saw “Sampoorna Ramayana,” produced by Homi Wadia and directed by Babubhai Mistry, that wizard of bygone days.

I wept when Sita pleaded with Mother Earth to take her back into her womb. She had been banished from Ayodhya after the Agni Pariksha. She had given birth to Luv and Kush and lived alone.

I felt the cruelty of it then. I still do.”The filmmaker added, "I have seen the new “Ramayana,” but stayed away from the premiere. I wanted to sit in a cinema hall among strangers and have that private, shared experience of watching a film. The mall I went to watch the film at looked nothing like the India I grew up in. Then the lights went down, and there was the “Ramayana” again, unfolding before us in 3-D."

Ranbir Kapoor and the cast of ‘Ramayana’

‘Ramayana’, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, features an impressive ensemble led by Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol, Ravi Dubey, Lara Dutta and others.