After Ramayana teaser backlash, Hrithik Roshan tells audiences to ask two big questions instead of just saying 'bad VFX'

The teaser for Ranbir Kapoor’s much-awaited Ramayana recently sparked heated debates online. While fans loved Kapoor’s look as Lord Ram, a significant portion of the audience criticized the visual effects, comparing them to a “video game.” Amid this, Hrithik Roshan stepped in with a detailed response, urging viewers to think deeper rather than just pointing out “bad VFX.”

A Personal Take on Visual Effects

In an Instagram post, Hrithik admitted that poor VFX can be frustrating. “Yes bad VFX exists. It’s sometimes so bad it’s painful to watch. Especially for me… and especially when it’s a film I’m part of,” he wrote. Sharing a personal anecdote, he recalled how seeing Back to the Future at age 11 in London shaped his fascination with cinema. “I became obsessed. I would sit with my dad’s VHS player studying the frames pause -play pause-play until I broke the player. I ordered a book ‘Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Special Effects’ from Reader’s Digest with my pocket money…and waited months for it to arrive at the Juhu post office. Happiest day of my life. I can still smell the book as I unwrapped it. Many others followed.”

Roshan used this memory to highlight filmmakers who take bold creative risks. “Today some special humans among us, like the makers of films like Kalki, Bahubali, Ramayana (also my dad for Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish of course) are my heroes, they have the guts and vision to do what’s never been done all for the love of cinema so that we the audience get to experience something never watched before. From my point of view they risked all that money, and years and years of effort just so another 11-year-old kid could feel what I felt.”

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Understanding VFX Styles

Hrithik stressed that not all VFX aims for photorealism. He explained, “Bad VFX is if the movie promises say ‘photorealism’ but is unable to inhabit it fully. Even a small lapse in physics/gravity can then destroy the entire illusion. Or the promise is of storybook style but they fail in making it beautiful enough or artistic enough or divine enough and so fails to engage. But to say that the storybook style is not looking photorealistic – isn’t fair. Cause it’s not meant to be.”

He encouraged audiences to reflect before judging. “AND you can’t criticize the maker just cause he has chosen one style while you prefer another style. That’s not fair. So sometimes when you say ‘bad VFX,’ maybe it’s just a style you didn’t expect? So next time don’t just ask, ‘Is it real?’ First ask, ‘Is it right for the story?’ ‘Is it making me feel what the maker intended?’ Debate it. But debate it with awareness.”

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra’s DNEG, Ramayana is a two-part epic with Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravi Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Hanuman. The first part is set to release on Diwali this year, with the second installment coming in Diwali 2027. Despite the mixed responses to its teaser, Hrithik’s comments have offered a fresh perspective on appreciating large-scale VFX-heavy cinema.