Ramayana Makes History as First Indian Film to Top the UK Box Office

Sony’s animated Ramayana: Rise of a Legend has made box-office history in Britain and Ireland, becoming the first Indian film ever to open at No. 1 in the territory. The film took £2.1 million ($2.8 million) in its opening weekend, leading a crowded chart ahead of Disney’s Wild Horse Nine in second place with $1.9 million and Godzilla Minus Zero in third with $1.8 million. It is a milestone Indian cinema has been chasing for years: until now, the ceiling for an Indian release in the UK and Ireland was second place, a mark shared by RRR in 2022, Pathaan and Jawan in 2023, and Dhurandhar: The Revenge earlier this year.

The result is more striking because the chart was genuinely competitive. Godzilla Minus Zero arrived in Britain as the No. 1 film in the world after a record-breaking $31.6 million North American opening, yet in the UK it could only manage third. A24’s Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson, took $1.1 million for sixth place in its second weekend, while Warner Bros.’ Clayface and the George Michael concert film also crowded the top ten. That an Indian animated feature beat them all, on its debut, says as much about the breadth of the UK audience as it does about the film itself.

Here is where the weekend gets confusing — and fascinating. The film that topped the UK chart is not the Ramayana most of the world was talking about. A second, entirely different film with the same name — Nitesh Tiwari’s live-action Ramayana: Part One, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Yash — opened in India on November 5 and has collected an estimated Rs 507 crore worldwide in its first four days, including more than Rs 285 crore in India and Rs 222 crore overseas. In North America it earned about $8.7 million over the Friday-to-Sunday weekend, or $12.2 million including paid previews, having already crossed $10 million overseas within two days of release. Two Ramayanas, two formats, one weekend — and both winning.

Why this matters: the two films show Indian storytelling travelling in two directions at once. The live-action epic, made on a reported combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore for its two parts, is a scale play aimed at global blockbuster status, with nearly 44 per cent of its early gross coming from outside India. The animated version, meanwhile, quietly broke a glass ceiling in a market where Indian films have long been treated as a niche for the diaspora rather than a mainstream chart contender. Together with Godzilla Minus Zero’s record run, the weekend was a reminder that subtitles and animation are no longer a barrier to the top of the box office — audiences will follow a strong story wherever it comes from. For more on the stars behind these films, browse our Did You Know collection of famous people’s ages and bios.

What to watch next: early tracking put the live-action Ramayana’s India total near Rs 395 crore by Tuesday morning, and the real test is whether it holds through the working week after its opening burst. For the animated film, the question is whether UK exhibitors widen its release after a No. 1 debut, and whether its second weekend can hold against a fresh slate led by the legal drama Prima Facie. Either way, the record books have already changed: an Indian film has finally topped the UK box office, and it did so on a weekend when two films called Ramayana were winning at the same time.