Why Ranbir Kapoor's Ramayana needs to conquer China to win the box office war

Ranbir Kapoor's road to conquering Lanka as Lord Rama could pass through China. Kapoor, who plays the titular celestial hero in the much-hyped upcoming Bollywood production, Ramayana, is all set to visit the Land of the Dragon on a promotional tour for the film along with co-stars Yash and Sai Pallavi, reports this past week said. Ramayana team at Pratham Sankalp event in Delhi on July 18, 2026 RAMAYANA'S MISSION CHINASai Pallavi, who plays Sita, and Yash, who is cast as Ravana, will join Kapoor on the China tour, slated to start on September 24 ahead of the scheduled global release of Ramayana Part 1 in November this year.The stars are expected to interact with the Chinese press, following which the film will reportedly be screened at the Pingyao International Film Festival on its inaugural day, September 24. Director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namita Malhotra are also expected to be part of the elaborate promotional tour that follows.Although it has not been officially confirmed yet, Ramayana Part 1 could be screened in China to coincide with the Golden Week holiday that begins on the country's National Day, October 1, per Wion. Distribution and exhibition plans in China for Ramayana Part 2, scheduled for Diwali 2027, will be done according to the first part's box office show in the country.DANGAL MODEL COULD CLICKTo understand why the China box office would matter for Ramayana, we need to look at the 2016 Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal, which is India's highest-earning film till date, by global gross. When Aamir Khan released Dangal in China in May 2017, it was a commercial step to boost the film's collection and also expand the Bollywood market overseas. Aamir had already gained popularity in China with the release of 3 Idiots (2009), and PK (2014) before deciding to release Dangal in that country. The outcome: Released across 9,000 screens in markets classified under Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), Dangal grossed over Rs 1,305 crore out of its lifetime global gross of Rs 2,070.3 crore, per Sacnilk.It made Aamir and his co-producers Kiran Rao and Siddharth Roy Kapur realise the potential of China's mammoth box office to swing the fortune of a film.The country's film exhibition infrastructure is the second-biggest in the world. It has an estimated 12,000 movie theatres, each having an average of 6.8 screens, according to a Statista report from December 2025. This comes to over 81,000 screens. India, in comparison, has over 9,000 screens nationwide at the time of publishing. China, not surprisingly, gave the magical spin to Dangal's box office story. In terms of lifetime gross in India, the Aamir Khan film has managed a modest Rs 535 crore till date. It is only the 15th highest grosser in the domestic market, after Pushpa 2, Baahubali 2, Dhurandhar 2, Dhurandhar, KGF 2, RRR, Kalki 2898 AD, Jawan, Kantara: A Legend Chapter – 1, Chhaava, Stree 2, Animal, Pathaan and Gadar 2. Add the China haul, and Dangal creates history."We are at 9,000 screens. What is the comparison? We are one-tenth their size in outlet," Aamir Khan recently explained the situation, while speaking to Variety India.READY TEMPLATE FOR RAMAYANADangal the template Ramayana sets out to follow, given its massive budget. According to industry sources, the two-film franchise could together cost around Rs 4,000 crore once completed (around Rs 2,000 crore per film). The challenge at hand to recover costs and make profits is staggering, and a good show just at the Indian box office may not be sufficient. It is a reason producer Namit Malhotra has insisted on promoting the film on a global scale.Every indication so far has been that the makers want to produce an export-quality Ramayana. Malhotra has already declared the film is a sort of "Avatar meets Gladiator moment" for cinema in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. He has referenced Dune: Part Three and The Odyssey while discussing the Ramayana films.Producer Namit Malhotra shares what aspects of #Ramayana are similar to 'Avatar' and 'Gladiator.' pic.twitter.com/jWdrUyRfAd— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) April 14, 2026But there is another reason beyond the box office why China matters. The country aligns with India culturally more than the West.BOLLY-CHINI BHAI BHAILast year, the fantasy adventure Ne Zha 2 earned over $2.15 billion globally per Box Office Mojo (roughly Rs 18,000 crore). The animated film, produced on a paltry budget of $80 million, is a sequel to the 2019 hit, Ne Zha, and over 90 per cent of its mighty gross came from the home turf (in the US, the dubbed English version of the film is a washout, earning merely $1.4 million across 2,228 theatres).Like Dangal, the success of Ne Zha 2 points at the power of the Chinese box office to score monster numbers without depending on the western box office.Importantly, Ne Zha 2 draws attention to its themes. The film is rooted in mythology and larger-than-life action, with characters and drama mounted on an epic scale.Ne Zha 2 is about a mythological hero named Ne Zha, and his friend, Ao Bing. After lightning destroys them, their spirits set out to search for a magical cure. During their perilous journey, their adventures involve gods, monsters and dragons. The story, storytelling style as well as characters are similar to what we come across in numerous traditional Indian mythological and folk stories. There is a commonality in tone and genre that lovers of Indian mythology and folklore have spotted in Chinese hits over the decades.Screen fables such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) made way for Monster Hunt (2015), Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms (2023), Full River Red (2023) and the Ne Zha films. The love for epic-level action and drama remains unchanged.That is where Ramayana is likely to fit in. Nitesh Tiwari's directorial is touted to be the most lavish interpretation of the epic ever, with Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman's score aiming to amp the visual spectacle created by the international VFX giants DNEG, credited with the Dune films and Oppenheimer.BOLLYWOOD STILL DISCOVERING CHINARamayana makers would also notice that Dangal is not an exception. Consider Aamir Khan's 2017 co-production, Secret Superstar. The Rs 15-crore film saw a global gross of Rs 912.75 crore, of which the Chinese box office accounted for nearly Rs 757.1 crore.The 2015 blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijaan earned Rs 295.76 crore in China, out of a global gross that exceeded Rs 921 crore. The Kabir Khan film remains Salman Khan's biggest hit even after 11 years of release. Salman Khan and Harshaali Malhotra in Bajrangi Bhaijaan Andhadhun released in 2018 in China and earned Rs 333.62 crore, while Hindi Medium opened the next year to see a gross of Rs 219.17 crore.CAN RAMAYANA RAISE THE BAR?Director Nitesh Tiwari will vie to break his own Dangal record in China with Ramayana Part 1 when the film releases. Starring Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana, the film has a vast supporting cast that includes Sunny Deol as Hanuman, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, Kajal Aggarwal as Mandodari, Arun Govil as Dashrath, Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi, Rakul Preet Singh as Surpanakha and Sheeba Chaddha as Manthara.So far, the two-film screen extravaganza has received mixed response over the casting of Kapoor after the first glimpse of Part 1 dropped. While the actor's fans are naturally excited, many others on social media are not convinced if fair-skinned and gym-toned Kapoor is the right choice to play Lord Rama, going by how the scriptures describe him.That bit, probably, should not be a problem while wooing the Chinese box office.- EndsPublished By: Vinayak ChakravortyPublished On: Jul 19, 2026 09:00 IST