Ramayana Advance Bookings Stall on Dussehra as Distributors Demand 60% Revenue Share

The much-anticipated advance booking window for Ramayana: Part 1 was supposed to open nationwide on October 20, timed to the Dussehra festival. Instead, it became a story about money. As of 9:30 am, barely any cinemas across India had started selling tickets for the November 5 worldwide release, according to Bollywood Hungama’s scoop, which first reported the delay. In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, only INOX Korum Mall in Thane had opened sales, with AMB Cinemas Kapali in Bengaluru the other notable exception. As the day wore on, the situation got worse: by around 3:45 pm, booking options on BookMyShow had been withdrawn entirely in several markets, Times Now reported.

The sticking point is a revenue-sharing standoff between distributors and exhibitors. A trade source told Bollywood Hungama that Ramayana’s distributors are demanding a 60% share of net box-office revenue in week one, 50% in week two and 40% in week three. That is materially richer than the terms the industry normally accepts even for giant event films: 52.5% in week one, 45% in week two and 37.5% in week three. Exhibitors, who absorb operating costs and the commercial risk of committing screens, have balked — and negotiations are continuing, with both sides saying they want a grand-scale release but only on mutually acceptable terms. Zoom’s news desk said it reached out to the film’s promotional team for confirmation but had received no verification by the time it published.

Why this matters: the Dussehra date was not accidental. Booking launches are choreographed for maximum festive sentiment, and for a film positioned as India’s definitive mythological epic, the advance window doubles as the first real read of audience demand — the number producers, trade analysts and rival studios all watch. Ramayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, stars Ranbir Kapoor as Rama alongside Yash and Sai Pallavi, and is produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The first part arrives November 5, 2026, with a second instalment targeted at Diwali 2027, and its official synopsis frames the saga as “the timeless clash between Rama and Ravana” in which dharma prevails over adharma. Every day the window stays shut is a day of lost momentum for a film that has been built, year after year, on the promise of an event-scale opening.

The economics explain both sides’ stubbornness. The opening week is where event films earn the biggest share of their total, so even a few percentage points of the split translate into serious money on a wide release across multiplexes and single screens. Distributors are betting that Ramayana is close to a sure shot and want the terms to reflect that confidence; exhibitors are betting that no film, however big, should rewrite the template single-handedly. The irony is that the standoff itself becomes the story — and if the delay drags on, it risks training potential ticket buyers to simply wait and see. For more stories about the people behind Indian cinema’s biggest moments, explore our Did You Know collection of famous personalities.

What to watch next: whether the two sides converge before the November 5 release, now just days away, and whether the final split becomes a reference point for the crowded December corridor — where Shah Rukh Khan’s King, Avengers: Doomsday, Dune: Part Three and Jumanji: Open World will fight over the same screens within a week of each other. Watch for the moment BookMyShow reopens full advance listings: the speed and geography of the rollout will reveal who conceded, and how much.