Now, Hollywood Ramayana

Mumbai: The story of Ramayana has been told many times through TV series, movies, cartoons and animation films but now three young filmmakers are adapting the classic in English to cater to the global audience. Directors Vineet Sinha and Sean Graham with Creative Director Ronnie Allman from the US want to recreate Ramayana as they feel Indian mythological stories need to be told to the world.

“Hollywood, Japan and China make and market their stories such as Batman, Superman, Star Wars and Pokemon to the whole world. But Indian stories are not as well known,” Vineet said. Director Sean Graham says they want to narrate the tale of Ramayana in 3D and Imax.

“Considering India’s most expensive films cost about $25 million, so for making Ramayana the cost would be twice of that. We need studio level support to make that possible.”For Vineet and Sean, the biggest challenge is to balance the expectations of the audience both in India and abroad. “We want this film to appeal to the fantasy action adventure audience who will watch Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes. We are also making sure people at home (India) don’t feel too distanced with our portrayal,” Vineet said.

According to Ronnie Allman, creating the mythological era would be a huge challenge. “Creating a world that is thousands of years old means heavy designs. We have to make sure we are keeping true to the time, while also adding our own spin on things.

“The biggest challenge has also been the most fun to figure out. How do you get a Rakshasa (demons) to fly in the air after being hit by Hanuman’s gada (mace),” he added. The story of Ramayana has been told to the audience several times but the director duo insists the portrayal of Hanuman and Ravana will be exciting for people to watch. “We believe he (Ravana) was a very wise, rational, caring, creative, strict and humorous ruler. We see his ten heads as ten human characteristics that everyone possesses,” Sean said.