The high‑profile launch for the upcoming Ramayana film, featuring YouTube star MrBeast, stalled for three and a half hours, prompting several journalists to leave in protest.
The much‑hyped Ramayana press gathering on September 26 turned into a waiting game that left many media crews fuming. Organized to showcase the film’s star‑studded cast and the surprise appearance of global YouTube phenomenon MrBeast, the event was slated to kick off at 1:30 pm but didn’t actually start until around 5 pm.
A cascade of timing tweaks
The confusion began the day before. An initial invitation sent on Friday listed a tentative start of 12:30 pm. Within two hours the same note was revised to 12:00 pm, then to 1:00 pm, and finally promised a sharp 1:30 pm opening. Journalists, photographers and camera crews converged on Film City – a location several kilometres from the main railway and metro hubs – at the last‑minute call time, only to be met with silence.
A reporter who attended the event told Bollywood Hungama, “The event didn’t begin at 1:30 pm, but we assumed that it would start by 2:00 pm or, at the most, 2:30 pm. The publicity team was unable to give us a proper answer regarding the reason for the delay or when the event would finally begin.”
It wasn’t until roughly 3 pm that the team finally mentioned a delayed flight from Bengaluru as the cause. By then, the media floor was buzzing with impatience.
Walkout and on‑stage moments
According to an India Today report, when journalists pressed for clarity, the PR crew reportedly told them they were free to leave. That invitation to exit sparked a small but vocal walkout. Ranbir Kapoor, who arrived before the media, was approached about the exodus. He is quoted as saying, “Aap logon ko jana hai toh chale jao.” A source clarified that Kapoor’s tone was not meant to be condescending. He simply echoed the PR team’s suggestion.
Sai Pallavi, also present since the morning, reportedly voiced her own irritation, though the exact words were not recorded. The event finally rolled out at about 5 pm, lasting barely twenty minutes. The brief program featured Ranbir, producer Namit Malhotra and PR head Ravie Dubey hoisting a symbolic “Shiv Dhanush,” while MrBeast enthusiastically chanted “Jai Shri Ram.” The visuals made for striking Instagram reels, but the payoff felt thin after a three‑and‑a‑half‑hour wait.
Logistical missteps under the spotlight
Critics pointed out that Film City’s distance from the nearest metro (about four kilometres) and railway station (five kilometres) made the venue a poor choice for a short‑duration affair. A media insider suggested that a location in Juhu or Andheri would have cut travel time dramatically, especially given MrBeast’s delayed arrival from the airport.
By the time the event wrapped around 5:20 pm, many journalists had already spent the better part of their Saturday on the road, some having left home at 11 am. The sentiment on social platforms echoed the frustration: “Our entire Saturday went to waste,” one reporter summed up.
No formal apology was issued by the film’s team, except for a brief acknowledgment from Ravie Dubey that the schedule had slipped. With the film’s release still months away, the episode may be a footnote, but it has already sparked a broader conversation about media handling in Bollywood’s promotional machine.
The next step for the Ramayana camp is to shift focus back to the upcoming trailer drop and the massive budget that has already been disclosed. Whether the fallout from this mismanaged event will affect the film’s buzz remains to be seen, but the industry will be watching closely.
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