Ramayana in Malaysia: the English, Tamil and Hindi versions, the IMAX halls and the running time

Ramayana: Rise of a Legend opens in Malaysia on Thursday 5 November in English and in Tamil, not only in its original Hindi. Malay Mail reported in September that it would screen worldwide in several languages including English and Tamil, and in IMAX and other premium formats; the chains' listings now show exactly that, three days before its Diwali opening in India.

Which version, where

GSC lists an English version, in English with Malay and Chinese subtitles, and a Tamil version with Malay subtitles, both from 5 November. TGV lists English and Tamil versions too. The Hindi original arrives at GSC as a special listing from Sunday 8 November, the day it opens in India, with English and Malay subtitles. The chains classify it P12.

For a family choosing: the Tamil version is the one for grandparents who want the story in Tamil, the English one for mixed groups, and the Hindi one for anyone who wants the voices the actors recorded.

How long it is

The listings disagree. GSC's English listing gives 2 hours 48 minutes, while its Hindi listing and Box Office Mojo give 3 hours 15 minutes, and TGV lists 199 minutes. Plan for more than three hours: a 7pm session will end after 10pm.

IMAX, 3D and 4DX

This site's listings for the week have 114 sessions in IMAX 3D and 69 in IMAX, plus 76 in 4DX and 68 in 3D, out of 1,748 at 91 cinemas. TGV carries 978 sessions, GSC 617, FST 148 and Mega five. Selangor and Kuala Lumpur hold more than 1,000 between them.

The film

Nitesh Tiwari directs the first of two parts, with Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravi Dubey as Lakshmana and Yash as Ravana; The Star, carrying Reuters, put its reported budget at about US$500 million, with part two due in 2027. "I have a good feeling about it," Kapoor said at Comic-Con. Malay Mail, carrying a Reuters report from CinemaCon in April, gave the combined budget of the two parts as up to US$500 million, or RM2 billion, and quoted Yash on playing Ravana: he said he "tried to make him as human as possible at times". Screen Daily reported that producer Namit Malhotra calls it "the largest independent production in the world", with Sony Pictures distributing it outside India.

Before you book

Check the language on each session before paying. The Ramayana: Rise of a Legend page lists every cinema and format, and the showtimes page shows each version's sessions side by side.