Ramayana Unveils Lara Dutta as Kaikeyi and Sheeba Chadha as Manthara

The makers of Nitesh Tiwari’s two-part Ramayana unveiled new character posters on Thursday for Lara Dutta as Queen Kaikeyi and Sheeba Chadha as Manthara, spotlighting the royal intrigue that drives Lord Rama’s exile ahead of the Diwali 2026 release, India Today and NDTV reported.

In the first look shared by the official World of Ramayana account, Dutta appears in regal court attire and jewellery as Kaikeyi, while Chadha is shown as Manthara holding a staff—visual cues that nod to the palace politics at the heart of the epic’s Ayodhya chapters. India Today’s entertainment desk said the posters “set the stage for Lord Rama’s exile,” framing Kaikeyi’s two wishes and Manthara’s influence as pivotal turning points in Part 1 rather than peripheral court color.

Ranbir Kapoor stars as Rama, with Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lakshman. Earlier this week the producers also released a solo look for Arun Govil as King Dashrath, marking the veteran’s return to the Ramayana universe after playing Rama in Ramanand Sagar’s landmark 1987 television series. The new Kaikeyi and Manthara reveals expand that character-poster rollout as marketing intensifies for the November bow, giving audiences a clearer sense of the palace ensemble before battle sequences dominate the conversation.

Part 1 is scheduled for a Diwali theatrical release on Nov. 6, 2026, with Part 2 planned for Diwali 2027, according to India Today and NDTV. The films are jointly produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios, DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. Sony Pictures is handling global distribution outside India, while Dharma Productions will distribute in the Hindi-speaking market. Releases are planned in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, with IMAX presentations in the mix—an unusually broad language and format footprint for a single Indian epic release window.

Tiwari’s adaptation follows the classic arc from Ayodhya’s royal court through exile, the wilderness years and the battle of Lanka, pitching the story as a clash between good and evil centered on Rama’s birth as an avatar destined to confront Ravana. Casting Dutta and Chadha in the Kaikeyi–Manthara axis underscores how much of Part 1’s early drama turns on palace counsel and a queen’s fateful demands rather than only battlefield spectacle, a storytelling choice that could differentiate the first installment from pure war-epic marketing.

Fans and trade watchers have treated each poster drop as a checkpoint on a production long framed as one of Indian cinema’s largest recent epics. With Kaikeyi and Manthara now publicly visualized alongside Dashrath and the lead trinity, the campaign’s next beats are expected to keep introducing supporting players as Diwali approaches and advance bookings become the next measurable signal. More Hindi-film coverage is on our Bollywood page.

Trade coverage also noted online praise for the casting chemistry of Dutta and Chadha in roles that demand political calculation as much as grandeur, with several outlets calling the pair “perfect choices” for the exile-driving subplot that opens the epic’s human drama.

Verification: Oct. 9 poster reveal, Kaikeyi/Manthara casting, exile-setup framing and Diwali 2026/2027 dates are from India Today (Oct. 9). Independent confirmation of the dual posters, Kapoor/Pallavi/Yash/Deol ensemble context and distribution partners is from NDTV (Oct. 9).