When the woman generations of viewers still remember as Sita weighs in on Ramayana, the noise around casting instantly sounds different. Dipika Chikhlia’s endorsement of Ranbir Kapoor has now given the film’s most polarising debate its strongest emotional counterpoint yet, especially for those unconvinced by seeing the Animal star step into one of Indian storytelling’s most revered roles.
The conversation around Ranbir playing Ram has lingered ever since Nitesh Tiwari’s adaptation began taking shape. Much of the resistance has come from viewers who closely associate the actor with his recent, more intense screen image. Dipika, however, has pushed back on that narrow reading of an actor’s range and put the focus back on performance.
Dipika Chikhlia Backs Ranbir Kapoor
Speaking in a published interaction about the criticism around the casting, Dipika said, “If he can do Animal, he can play Ram. An actor is meant to portray different kinds of characters.” With that one line, she reframed the debate from image to versatility, and from fan anxiety to craft.
Her support carries unusual weight because she is not just another industry voice reacting to a headline. For many viewers, Dipika remains inseparable from the world of Ramayan, which makes her approval feel culturally resonant in a way few endorsements can. She also praised Sai Pallavi’s casting as Sita, adding to the sense that the film’s central pairing has found support from performers who have inhabited these mythological spaces before.
The film itself remains one of Hindi cinema’s most closely watched large scale productions. With Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi leading the cast under Nitesh Tiwari’s direction, Ramayana is scheduled to arrive in theatres in 2026, with the follow-up planned for 2027.
When Faith, Memory And Star Image Collide
Mythological casting in India has never been just about a star’s popularity. It is shaped by faith, memory, visual familiarity, and the burden of public expectation. That is precisely why Dipika’s defence lands so forcefully. Her remarks speak to a larger tension that often surrounds epics on screen, audiences do not merely assess a performance, they also measure whether a familiar star can disappear into a figure they already hold sacred.
That makes Ramayana a pivotal film in Ranbir’s career, not simply because of scale, but because of what it asks of him in the public imagination. The project arrives at a moment when his choices are being watched for reinvention as much as box office pull, and the role of Ram now sits at the centre of that shift.
Ranbir Kapoor’s Recent And Upcoming Work
Ranbir Kapoor was last seen on the big screen in Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, released on 8 March 2023, and Animal, released on 1 December 2023. Together, those films kept him firmly in the mainstream while underlining his bankability across big ticket theatrical releases.
What follows now feels especially telling. Ramayana is positioned as the kind of ambitious star vehicle that could redefine a phase of his career, placing him inside a mythology driven spectacle with enormous cultural stakes. Beyond that, he is also attached to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, co-starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, a major 2026 release that keeps him aligned with another high profile filmmaker operating on an expansive canvas. Taken together, the two films suggest that Ranbir’s next chapter is being shaped around scale, prestige, and high visibility storytelling.
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