Over 2,500 years ago, there existed a legendary poet, the Hindu maharshi Valmiki. His most esteemed work, the epic poem “Ramayana,” was recently adapted cinematically. The film, formally entitled Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, is the first part of a two-part series of films. Releasing to 1,433 North American movie screens, the adaptation currently holds the record of being the widest released Indian film in the US ever.

The feature’s director and co-writer, Niteshi Tiwari, has a filmmaking career that is relatively young, with his debut, the children’s comedy film Chillar Party, releasing only in 2011. And now, fifteen years later, Tiwari sees his latest film rake in a whopping $7.3 million in its opening weekend. This places Ramayana: Rise of a Legend in the list of the Top 10 highest-grossing Indian films to release in the US, specifically at No. 5, right above the 2023 action film Pathaan. 

Indian cinema has found cumulative interest in North America ever since S.S. Rajamouli’s triumph RRR, which was released in 2022 and became the first Indian film to win an Oscar when it won for Best Original Song. Notably, every member of the Top 10 list mentioned earlier is a film released after RRR, all except two: RRR itself and the holder of the No. 1 spot Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion, which released in 2017.

Ramayana is unique however, being the current most expensive Indian film in history, costing approximately $210 million, or ₹2,000 crore. Taking this into account, its record-breaking theatrical release makes a lot of sense – the film would need an incredible $525 million to break even.