Scene Report: Ramayana takes Ballroom 20 for a Diwali-scale Comic-Con launch
Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Nitesh Tiwari, and Namit Malhotra bring Ramayana to Ballroom 20 for exclusive footage and a Comic-Con first look. Indian epic cinema is using the room the way tentpoles always have.
Mina Park
Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con usually gets framed as anime and Hall H math. This afternoon it also belongs to Ramayana. Ranbir Kapoor (Rama), Yash (Ravana), director Nitesh Tiwari, and producer Namit Malhotra take Ballroom 20 from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. PT for exclusive footage, a first look, and the kind of room that studios reserve when they want the internet to notice.
That is the Scene Report: Indian mythological tentpoles are learning the Comic-Con launchpad. The same Thursday that Bandai puts a new Gundam on a worldwide clock also puts a Diwali-scale epic in one of the Convention Center’s biggest seats. South Asian soft power here is not a side panel. It is Ballroom 20.
What lands in the room
The official description promises never-before-seen footage, exclusive reveals, live performances, and giveaways, with entertainment journalist Coy Jandreau hosting. Cast context matters for readers who only know the headline names: Sai Pallavi plays Sita, Sunny Deol is Hanuman, and Ravie Dubey is Lakshman, with Part 1 aimed at Diwali 2026 and Part 2 at Diwali 2027. Malhotra’s DNEG / Prime Focus pipeline is the VFX story the panel will sell as hard as the myth.
If you are badged and already camping Gundam, treat 3:15 as a second Thursday appointment, not a rumor you catch on the walk between halls. If you are outside San Diego, watch the carpet details next: Ranbir’s Tiranga pin and Yash’s Trishul did the soft-power work on the step-and-repeat even after the public trailer window moved later for Sony’s international distribution deal.
Our take
Comic-Con still works as a global first-look machine when the project is big enough to fill the seat count. Ramayana is betting that Rama-versus-Ravana spectacle can travel the same path Marvel and anime already do: exclusive room, then a wider trailer when the studio math is locked, then theatrical countdown. Pair this with the late-July weekend map if you are sorting the whole badge weekend, and keep an eye on Sony’s later trailer date rather than refreshing a July 24 clock that no longer holds.
