'Maybe it’s just a style you didn’t expect?': Hrithik Roshan defends Ranbir Kapoor's 'Ramayana' over bad VFX row

Just when Dhurandhar: The Revenge was taking the world by storm, Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana's, starring Ranbir Kapoor, first look teaser dropped.

While many appreciated Ranbir's first look as Rama, others were quick to point out the bad VFX in the teaser.

The bad VFX debate further heated up after the film's producer Namit Malhotra's bombshell revelation of the massive Rs 4,000 crore budget.

Now, Hrithik Roshan has come forward to defend the movie and the VFX.

In an Instagram post shared on Sunday, April 4, Hrithik urged the audience to criticise with better awareness and highlighted that there are different styles of VFX.

Acknowledging that poor VFX can be disappointing, Hrithik wrote, “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.

However, he quickly pointed out the efforts behind such projects. “Today some special humans among us, like the makers of films like Kalki, Baahubali, Ramayana... 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.”

In a walk down the memory lane, Hrithik reflected on his own childhood inspiration from films like Back to the Future and highlighted the bigger purpose of such films and urged the audience to bash them with better awareness.

"To me that's noble. the intention by itself deserves applause! I am proud of my fellow Indians. What I would give to be a part of such dreams even as an assistant. But this post is not about me , it's about us the audience. Thing is, it takes thousands of our artistes working round the clock for multiple years to bring vfx heavy films to life so the least we can do is bash them with some better awareness," he continued.

Hrithik further pointed out that there are different VFX styles that makers adopt, referring to Ramayana, and emphasised that "neither is wrong".

"In my little understanding from the little that I have learnt is that there are different VFX styles adopted by makers to bring their vision to life. It's like in comics or animation - some prefer ANIME style but that's not as realistic as spider man-into the spider verse. You can like one style over the other but neither is wrong," he added.

Further explaining what actually bad VFX actually is, Hrithik wrote, "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."

"AND you can't criticize the maker just cause he has chosen one style while you prefer another style. Thats not fair. So sometimes when you say “bad VFX.” Maybe it’s just a style you didn’t expect?"

Urging the audience to question with better awareness, Hrithik said, "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," he concluded.

Ramayana is slated for a grand release this Diwali and stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Hanuman.