It’s not just production costs
Speaking on Aap Ki Adalat, Yash clarified that the widely-quoted figure isn’t purely a filmmaking budget. “There’s a misunderstanding I should clarify. Rs 4000 crore, quoted by my partner (Namit Malhotra), includes both the films, and the promotional costs for Hollywood. That’s how the math there works. A budget equal to, or sometimes more than, the production budget is spent for promotions because it’s global,” he explained.
He also credited Malhotra, who heads Prime Focus, co-producing alongside Yash’s Monster Mind Creations, for personally bankrolling much of the effort: “is working very hard and putting his own money.” Yash framed it as a passion project bigger than any one person’s ego: “He’s doing it for the country, let him do it. If the film is nice, the audience would bless it.”
‘Do we really need another Ramayana?’
With Om Raut’s 2023 Adipurush still fresh in public memory as a cautionary tale of a poorly-received epic adaptation, skepticism around yet another Ramayana retelling was inevitable. Yash pushed back on the idea that the story itself is the issue, arguing instead that each adaptation lives or dies by the imagination behind it. He pointed to his own childhood as an example, the mental images he formed listening to his grandfather’s retellings were nothing like what his grandfather actually pictured. “We have to make the film entertaining, but also not hurt religious values. So, it’s a very difficult balance, but we have to do it. It’s a story that’s survived so many generations. The best of people are there in the film,” he said.
Lakshana is an entertainment and lifestyle journalist with over a decade of experience. She covers a wide range of stories—from community and health to mental health and inspiring people features.
A passionate K-pop enthusiast, she also enjoys exploring the cultural impact of music and fandoms through her writing.