Shares of Prime Focus Ltd saw a significant rise in Thursday's trade, breaking a two-session losing streak. The stock was up 3.25 percent, trading at Rs 273.15, bringing its year-to-date gains to over 19 percent. This positive movement coincides with intense market and media attention on Ramayana, the ambitious two-part cinematic adaptation of the Indian epic.
Prime Focus, through its production arm Prime Focus Studios and global visual effects (VFX) subsidiary DNEG, serves as the main co-producer and technical partner for the film.
Ramayana: Box Office Success and Grand Ambitions
Ramayana: Part 1 has reportedly garnered a strong reception at the box office, performing well across Hindi and various regional markets. The film is estimated to have grossed more than Rs 930 crore worldwide within its initial seven days of theatrical release, underscoring its commercial appeal.
The cinematic adaptation of Ramayana carries a colossal combined production budget of approximately $500 million, equivalent to about Rs 4,696 crore at current exchange rates. This figure surpasses the widely discussed Rs 4,000-crore estimate, highlighting the immense scale of the project.
Namit Malhotra, CEO of DNEG and founder of Prime Focus Studios, emphasized the project's broad commercial vision in an interview with CNN: "If we don't make money with the movies, we'll make it in the merchandise. If we don't make it in the merchandise, we'll make it in the theme park. If we don't make it in the theme park, we'll make it some other way. This is the story of Lord Rama, okay? There is no version of this where people don't like (the movies), and it does not drive economic upside."
Malhotra further clarified that he is personally shouldering the financial risk for the two-part epic, despite actor Yash's Monster Mind Creations also co-producing. The extensive budget covers substantial expenditure on visual effects by DNEG and features international talent, including Oscar winners Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman for music. The film also utilizes Brahma AI, a homegrown technology, for seamless lip-syncing in multiple foreign languages.
Company Earnings and I-T Search
Financially, Prime Focus reported a 24 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to Rs 1,267 crore for the June quarter (Q1 FY27). However, the company recorded a net loss of Rs 45.8 crore for the period, a reversal from the Rs 110.5 crore profit in the prior year's quarter. This loss was primarily attributed to an exceptional charge of Rs 66 crore related to the settlement of insolvency proceedings with Rasalfa Services. Prime Focus is set to announce its September quarter (Q2 FY27) results on November 13.
Separately, Prime Focus disclosed that the Income Tax (I-T) department initiated search proceedings at several of its offices last month, on October 7, 2026. The company stated that its business operations remained unaffected and continued as usual despite the search.