The Guardian and The New York Times have both published reviews of Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, an Indian epic based on the ancient classical poem about Rama, the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. The film is directed by Nitesh Tiwari. The Guardian's headline described it as India's most expensive film ever.
According to The Guardian, the film runs three hours and features music by Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman. In a review by Peter Bradshaw, published November 4, the outlet called the film "highly enjoyable." The review described it as a rousing, spectacular Indian epic melodrama and a huge-scale blockbuster. The summary also said the story of Rama has often been adapted for other productions.
Writing in The New York Times, reviewer Nicolas Rapold, in a piece published November 5, described the film as a "respectful adaptation." According to the paper, the film follows the converging stories of the prince Rama and the demon king Ravana, and it pairs those storylines with brawny, blockbuster-style action. The review's headline pointed to royal intrigue at the film's center.
The two reviews share a focus on scale and action but differ in emphasis. The Guardian's review, as summarized, stresses enjoyment and spectacle. The New York Times, as summarized, stresses faithfulness to the source material and the way it joins two central storylines. Neither summary characterizes the film's box-office performance or its reception beyond these reviews.
The published summaries do not say when or where the film opened. The full text of both reviews was not available for this report, so the details above are drawn only from the headlines and summaries of each piece.
Sources: The Guardian: Ramayana: Rise of a Legend review - India’s most expensive film ever becomes spectacular, huge-scale epic; The New York Times: ‘Ramayana: Rise of a Legend’ Review: Royal Intrigue.