# Addinath Kothare recalls first day on Ramayana set in Ayodhya

2026-10-19T17:11:27+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets

Addinath Kothare, who plays Bharat in Nitesh Tiwari's two-part epic Ramayana, has described his first day of shooting on the Ayodhya set as 'absolutely surreal'. Speaking to Hindustan Times, he said the entire cast including Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Ravi Dubey was present. The film, backed by Prime Focus Studios and DNEG, has a budget of Rs 4,000 crore and is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made. In a separate interview with Bollywood Hungama, Kothare recalled meeting Kapoor at school when Kapoor was his senior. He dismissed social media negativity about the film, attributing it to algorithms, and said he has seen the hard work of the makers. Ramayana Part 1 releases worldwide on 5 November 2026, three days before Diwali. Part 2 is scheduled for Diwali 2027.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

All three outlets reported Kothare's experience neutrally, but they led on different angles. Hindustan Times focused on the scale and cast of Ramayana, while NDTV gave a concise summary of his 'surreal' first day. Bollywood Hungama devoted substantial space to Kothare dismissing social media negativity, which the other two sources omitted entirely. The coverage is uniform straight reporting with no discernible slant. Kothare's next project is the web series Gandhi, directed by Hansal Mehta, and he also confirmed that Zapatlela 3 will go on floors soon, with a Diwali 2027 release possible.

## Coverage

Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral
- hindustantimes.com (neutral report) <https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/addinath-kothare-opens-up-on-first-day-of-shoot-on-the-set-of-ramayana-with-ranbir-kapoor-sai-pallavi-ravi-dubey-in-ayodhya-exclusive-101792322627308.html>
  Straight report on Kothare's experience and film details
- ndtv.com (neutral report) <https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/addinath-kothare-shares-memories-of-shooting-ramayana-with-ranbir-kapoor-and-others-in-ayodhya-12204662#publisher=newsstand>
  Brief neutral summary of first day on set
- bollywoodhungama.com (neutral report) <https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/features/exclusive-addinath-m-kothare-recalls-his-first-meeting-with-ranbir-kapoor-in-school-he-was-very-tall-and-lean-towering-over-me-dismisses-ramayanas-social-media-negativity/>
  Includes Kothare dismissing social media negativity

This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.

Tags: Addinath Kothare, Bollywood Hungama, Nitesh Tiwari, Ramayana, Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi
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How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/