Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped bring Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama back into public view after he met representatives of its Japanese production company during a 2022 visit to Japan and discussed its 4K remaster on Mann Ki Baat. A special Mumbai International Film Festival screening followed on May 31, 2022; the film later returned to Indian cinemas in a substantially wider 4K release on January 24, 2025. The documented sequence shows renewed attention, but does not establish that Modi’s interest alone drove every later distribution decision.
What Modi’s interest changed—and what the record shows
In May 2022, Modi met Atsushi Matsuo and Kenji Yoshi, who were involved in making the film, during his Japan visit. In a subsequent Mann Ki Baat broadcast, he discussed the remastered film. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting then announced a special screening at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF), held the following day, May 31. The ministry described the occasion as marking 30 years since the film’s first launch. The broadcast transcript and the May 30, 2022 ministry announcement document that connection.
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The next major Indian theatrical event came later: a 4K rerelease on January 24, 2025, distributed by Geek Pictures, AA Films and Excel Entertainment. The timeline supports the conclusion that Modi’s interest helped bring the film to wider public attention. It does not, on its own, prove that his remarks caused the 2025 release.
A cross-border production completed in 1992
Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama is an animated feature based on Valmiki’s Ramayana. Its dates are easy to conflate: TEM’s official film page says production concluded in December 1992, after nine years, while the ministry says the film was released in 1993. TEM lists its running time as 135 minutes. TEM’s official film page identifies the 4K digital remaster and describes the version listed there as having English dialogue, Sanskrit songs and Japanese subtitles.
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The work was divided between Indian and Japanese teams. According to TEM, the Indian team handled the scenario, art settings, dialogue recording and music, among other tasks; the Japanese team worked on storyboards, backgrounds, original drawings, animation, coloring, photography and editing. TEM reports that 450 people worked on the Japanese side, that the production used more than 100,000 hand-drawn cel images and that approximately 800 million yen was invested. These are figures from the company’s undated official page, not independently audited totals.
The ministry characterizes the film’s animation as a fusion drawing on Japanese manga, Disney and Indian visual traditions associated with Ravi Varma. That is the government’s description of its visual approach, rather than a technical classification.
Why the 2022 festival screening mattered
The ministry announced free entry to the MIFF screening, but the event faced a technical delay. Scroll’s report says a projector failure postponed the May 31 screening; a replacement projector enabled the remastered 4K print to be shown at 6:15 p.m. The screening drew animators and was described by participants as a tribute to Indian animation and to co-creator Ram Mohan, who died in 2019. Scroll’s on-scene account reports the delay and those participant recollections.
The film’s earlier path in India helps explain why a festival screening could feel like a rediscovery. In Scroll’s account, Ram Mohan’s son, animator Kartik Mohan, recalled that the 1997 Indian theatrical release was poorly distributed and marketed, played in a few metropolitan cinemas and disappeared within weeks. The same report says the film later found an audience through Cartoon Network broadcasts. These are attributed recollections and reporting, not independently verified box-office or audience figures.
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Scroll also describes a politically charged context around the Ramayana in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It reports that Kartik Mohan disputed claims that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad protested the production. The production story should not be reduced to that disputed claim or to a single political explanation.
What audiences saw in the 2025 Indian rerelease
Geek Pictures’ project page says the film opened in India in 4K on January 24, 2025, with theatrical distribution by Geek Pictures, AA Films and Excel Entertainment. It documents Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs alongside the original English version, more than 600 screens and a 12-week theatrical run. The distributor’s project details are available at Geek Pictures’ project page.
In a January 29, 2025 corporate release, Geek Pictures put the opening count at 621 screens and called it the largest release for Japanese content in India. Both the screen count and the superlative are the company’s claims. The company’s release supplies that more specific opening figure.
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The documented wide Indian theatrical run was in 2025. The available official pages establish the remaster and that Indian theatrical release, but do not establish a current authorized streaming service or DVD or Blu-ray edition. A JustWatch check dated October 8, 2026 said it could not find an online offer among the services it tracks, while showing theatrical tickets in India. That is a dated aggregator snapshot, not proof that no authorized viewing option exists anywhere; listings and availability can change. JustWatch’s India listing is the relevant check.
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TEM’s official site identifies the company as rights-holder and directs Indian cinemas, event organizers, broadcasters and other organizations to its India licensee, Anime Pop Mall Pvt. Ltd. That is a route for organizations seeking screening or licensing information, not a current consumer ticket or streaming offer.
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