Ramayana: Part 1 trailer: is the epic worth the hype?

The new trailer for Ramayana: Part 1 is out, and it has us sold. Our audience is very split on whether to be excited for this one, but we both thought the last trailer looked good. Visually, it looks great.

The Ramayana trailer's winged elephant and throne stand out

The trailer opens on a time when, as it puts it, god walked among gods and the world existed in perfect order, until an evil force rose from the darkness. The first image to land was an elephant with wings, and one that punches at that. "Nah, elephant with wings is sick."

The villain is described as "born from fire and fury," a figure who bent the world to his will and made the world his throne. That throne got a reaction too: "that throne is crazy work." Then comes the line: "Every head will bow."

Against him, humanity has one hope, "Not a god," but "even better." The colors throughout stand out, and the stakes are laid out plainly with the line "If I don't stop him, the world will fall." A shoulder run near the end got a loud reaction too.

Is Ramayana: Part 1 one movie or two parts?

A question came up in the discussion about whether this is all in one movie or split into a part one and part two. The answer offered was "I think it's two parts," which went over well. The trailer closes on a November 5th date, only in theaters.

Why people in India are split on Ramayana

I know the reception is somewhat split, and part of that is because the Ramayana is one of the religious stories over there. We're not religious people. When we previously grouped it with folklore and myths, some people responded that, by that logic, Jesus is a myth to us. Well, we're not religious. Believe what you want to believe. It's all good.

From what I understand, the split apparently extends to people in India. I guess it's one of those cases where they want to make sure it's done right, and that the story is respected with the seriousness they treat it with. That was taken as a very valid point in the discussion.

Even so, we're both excited. The point made was that visually it looks great, and that for someone who isn't familiar with this kind of material, it hooks you: "I want to watch it. I want to learn more."