CAN RAMAYANA OUTRUN PRIME FOCUS' BIG DEBT?

Namit Malhotra is turning Ranbir Kapoor into Ram on a record budget. Here's the inside story

- T. Surendar

Namit Malhotra, the chief executive officer of Prime Focus Group, and its global visual effects arm DNEG.

In a dimly lit studio outside London, a god takes shape-not through divine intervention, but through pixels. The frame holds a shot of Ranbir Kapoor, dressed in battle armour, standing amid a cascade of digital light. Every movement of his cape, every glint on his sword, is being rendered across servers that stretch between Vancouver, London, and Mumbai.

It is here that Namit Malhotra, the 48-year-old chief executive officer (CEO) of Prime Focus Group, and its global visual effects arm DNEG, is attempting something no Indian filmmaker has done before: Stage Ramayana, India's most sacred story, as a Hollywood epic.

"This isn't an Indian film," Malhotra says. "It's a global movie told through Indian eyes.

He isn't being flippant. The film, backed by his company, will be released in Hollywood late 2026 and is expected to be one of the most expensive productions ever mounted out of India. If Malhotra's own estimates hold, it could cost close to half a billion dollars (₹4,000 crore) across two parts. Apart from Kapoor as Ram and Sai Pallavi as Sita, the film's music is composed by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer.

"If you can make Superman, or Avengers, or Avatar, why can't we?" he asks. "We can't bring Ram into the world sounding apologetic."

For someone whose company has lost money in eight of the past 10 years, the ambition borders on audacity. Prime Focus reported revenue of ₹3,599 crore and a loss of ₹458 crore for the year ended March 2025. Its debt stood at ₹4,879 crore. Yet, the markets have been kind of late. After years of being ignored, Prime Focus' stock has shot up 64% in the last six months. Seasoned investors like Madhusudan Kela, Ramesh Damani, and Utpal Sheth have taken fresh positions, while Ranbir Kapoor himself bought a stake worth ₹15 crore.