The story of the epic Ramayana will resonate again with Adipurush very soon in theatres. The Prabhas-starrer is not the first, nor will be the last, Ramayana to be portrayed on screen.
Most mythological films in Telugu like Sri Rama Rajyam (2011) have been inspired by “Uttara Kanda“, the added part of the original chapters of Ramayana.
The most popular films, to date in this genre have been Lava Kusa (1963), Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958, 1961, 1971 — three films with the same title) and Sri Rama Rajyam
The Tamil mythological film, also called, Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958) starring Sivaji Ganesan as Bharatha and NT Rama Rao as Rama, captured the story from Bharatha’s perspective.
Jr NTR-starrer Bala Ramayanam, which was directed by Gunasekhar in the year 1997, was not so commercially successful. However, it went well with the taste of children.
Sita Kalyanam (1976), a Bapu directorial, was a major hit at several international film festivals and was a rare interpretation of Ramayana in a musical form.
Two major films focusing on Ravana’s side are Sita Rama Kalyanam (1961) and Bhookailas (1958), both starring NT Rama Rao as the titular character Ravanasura.
Another version of Ramanaya is taking shape in Bollywood. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, this untitled film features Ranbir Kapoor as Rama and Alia Bhatt as Sita.