From ‘A Little Princess’ to ‘Black Panther,’ how Hollywood films have reimagined the South Asian epic ‘Ramayana’

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(The Conversation) — American audiences will be able to watch an English-dubbed version of “Ramayana,” a Hindi film based on a South Asian epic tradition , in theaters in November 2026.

The Sanskrit “Ramayana,” or “Journey of Rama,” is an epic poem that was composed sometime between 400 B.C.E. and 400 C.E . The epic follows Rama , an exiled prince and an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu , as he journeys to rescue his wife, Sita , from the demon king Ravana .

For hundreds of years, people from different religious traditions across South Asia have retold the “Ramayana” through dramas , narrative poems , shadow puppet plays , pageants , folk songs , comics , television shows and many other mediums. Director Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming “Ramayana” film is the latest retelling of this epic tradition.

For over a decade, I have studied how South Asian epics have been retold within and outside the Indian subcontinent. While many American moviegoers may not recognize the word “Ramayana,” they may have already encountered its characters and stories on the big screen.

Sita’s struggles in ‘A Little…