By definition, no one expects or even wants an epic to be subtle. We want to be stunned. We want to be swooned over by the visuals and the music. We want to be captivated by the action choreography. None of that happens 100% in any frame. Some of it happens slightly in some scenes. The rest of the time, it is an average experience. So, that I would've been happy to forget what I knew about the epic, became a bit too much to expect.

There is a certain charm in the simplicity because it highlights values and lessons.

I looked up the budget of the film after watching the movie. One would think that with those numbers, at the very least I would not be able to make out when something that is supposed to be live action is CGI-generated, right? And the digitization of the fantastical bits is also nothing out of this world. Some bits are impressive, but they are few and far between. Other bits are tacky. More problematically, some of the music and visualisation of the wars is almost the same as the TV series, Ramayan! And so is the pacing in some of the scenes. As if a hero in an epic can move only at a certain pace.

And even as I watched this, I kept looking forward to a majestic show that never came. Everything either felt like I had seen it before or like the makers were controlling themselves, ending up with an unsatisfactory, half-baked product.

As a positive side effect, though, Ramayana turns out to be a simple telling of the story many of us have heard through our lives, and even as babies. There is a certain charm in the simplicity because it ends up highlighting the values we are to imbibe, the lessons we are to learn to help us live as model humans.

The epic is indeed a lesson in understanding manipulation, deception, rejection, and the difference between self-confidence and ego. And, of course, it underlines the importance of honesty, curiosity, questioning authority, the power of women, efficiency of process, and playfulness. It made me wonder why the story has become about the hero rather than lessons such as, "dushto ka dharam nahi hota; unka vinaash hi dharam hai." Evil has no religion or follows no moral path; destroying it is the right thing to do.

And so is the pacing in some of the scenes. As if a hero in an epic can move only at a certain pace.

The writing also gives a lot of room to the antagonist, allowing us to get into his psyche a bit. I also liked how some of the logical creases in the story are ironed out by explaining the events as predestined. Other than that, though, the dialogue is pretty predictable. The six-year-old next to me was predicting some of the words.

The lack of lustre keeps other things that could have gone awry in check, too. For instance, the background music stays in the background. So, you aren't exposed to thumping in your ears for three straight hours.

At the same time, though, the filters added to voices were rather jarring. They adversely affected how I enjoyed the performances. Interestingly, none of them made a mark, yet I intermittently did forget I was watching this actor or that one. Other than that, they were appropriately theatrical for the genre. But hey, why-o-why does Ranbir Kapoor have his shoulders raised, especially when he's sitting cross-legged?! And the movements of the actors, especially in action sequences, seem to have been corrected digitally. Or they have that feeling about them.

Little things like these added up to make the overall experience underwhelming. And we have barely reached the halfway mark yet. Hanuman hasn't even entered the scene yet. And I dread having to watch the part that I absolutely hate about the story: Sita having to take the agnipariksha, the trial by fire that Sita has to go through.

- meeta, a part of the audience