Speculation surrounding the global distribution of director Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming epic ‘Ramayana’ has gained fresh momentum after India’s Consul General in Los Angeles, Dr KJ Srinivasa, addressed reports about the film during a conversation at the Indian Film Festival in Los Angeles.The discussion surfaced after Digital creator Sabeen Faheem shared a video of her interaction on social media. Alongside the clip, she wrote, “It’s high time Indian cinema get the respect around the world!” She further added, “This year and we talked about the impact of Indian cinema. We also talked about the importance of South Asian American media and how we can be THE BRIDGE to better understanding and respect.”During the conversation, Dr Srinivasa spilled the beans on the growing international interest in Indian cinema and recalled the response to ‘Ramayana’ at CinemaCon earlier this year. He shared, “What we found was that there is a clientele already for Indian movies, but there’s a lack of education of what India stands for, and what India can do. I think that’s where we need the help of media like you, to educate people on both sides of the boundaries of the continent. Indian films have always made a worldwide impact, and this high time that we formalise our relationship with Hollywood.” Speaking about the industry’s interest in ‘Ramayana’ during the event, he added, “At Cinema Con, I realised that this is something which attracts the Hollywood producers to have the chance of meeting people who actually came to see how to promote Ramayana. There were people there, producers, advertisers, but at the same time, people from all over the world, famous directors like James Cameron were there.”When asked specifically about rumours that Warner Bros. Pictures could distribute Ramayana internationally, Dr Srinivasa said, “Not really, because you know, they don’t want to…”While there has been no official announcement from the filmmakers or Warner Bros. regarding the film’s international distribution, industry chatter has continued ever since ‘Ramayana’ made a splash at CinemaCon, which also played host to several big-ticket films including ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘Dune: Part 3′, among many other films.’Ramayana’ stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Yash as Ravana and Sai Pallavi as Sita. The film also features music by Hans Zimmer and A. R. Rahman. The first glimpse of the film that was released early this year, has already generated significant buzz, with fans eagerly awaiting further updates on its trailer and other promotional assets rumoured to be releasing this month. Buzz is that the film will also launch exclusive content at ComicCon, set to take place between July 23 to July 26. Go to Source
