Exclusive: Ajinkya Dev says Ramayan co-star Ranbir Kapoor has a ‘thirsty’ aura
Actor Ajinkya Dev discusses his role as Vishwamitra in Nitish Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana’. During an exclusive conversation, she opened up about her interactions with Ranbir Kapoor and said that his aura is pure.
Actor Ajinkya Dev will be seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s magnum opus RamayanaWill be released in two parts. The actor still remembers the moment he realized he was being asked to audition for Nitish Tiwari’s film Dasharatha RamayanaHe said in an exclusive conversation with India Today.
“RK (Ranbir Kapoor) is playing Ram, and you are asking me to test Dasharatha?” He laughed at the time, unsure whether he would want to take on the responsibility of playing Ranbir Kapoor’s on-screen father. “As an actor, somewhere you hesitate,” he said, adding, “Of course, Dasharatha is iconic, but you feel that change.”
The audition happened and life moved on. Months later, he got a call from casting director Mukesh Chhabra, which changed his path. Dasharatha was not going to be made, but Nitesh saw his tape and wanted him for Vishwamitra instead.
At the time, Dev did not fully understand how central the sage was to the epic. He said, “Only once I took in his looks, gait, weight, I realized what a blessing it was.”
Dev said, “He is the one who knows why Ram was born. He is the one who leads him into battle. This is huge.”
As for the film, the film carries a feeling that goes beyond the professional. His father, veteran actor Ramesh Dev, was alive when he auditioned. “I sincerely thank him for inspiring me to come out that day,” he said. “To be a part of one of the biggest movies of all time feels like a blessing.”
Despite the scale, Rs 3000 crore, two parts, and the kind of VFX infrastructure usually associated with Hollywood, the DO says the set Ramayana There were “silence, discipline and complete clarity”.
He credits director Nitish Tiwari for striking that balance. Dev said, “He is rooted, he knows his craft and has deeply researched the subject which shows in every scene.”
On the protected nature of the production, he is not bothered. He said, “Today everything gets leaked online. In a moment, and it goes up in flames. But when a film of this scale is at stake, privacy is respected.” “Speculation, in fact, is the real problem; it creates animosity and can even destroy careers. We need to stop treating every rumor like gospel.”
The appreciation on set is mutual. Dev laughs remembering how Ranbir came to him to praise his fitness. “He said, ‘Sir, you maintain yourself very well.’ And I was like RK, look at yourself,” he said. “But when a co-star of that stature says something nice, it makes you want to keep going.”
Without saying much, Ajinkya praised RK. “RK has accomplished this very well,” he said, leaning in almost conspiratorially. “Well, he has an aura, and he carries this payas (pure) form that exists right now.”
For Dev, playing the character of Vishwamitra has been like a reinvention. “When I first saw myself in the final get-up, I said, ‘Oh my God, this is something else,'” he said. Watching the excerpt during dubbing reinforced this sentiment: “God has been kind. That’s all I can say.”
with Ramayana Poised to be India’s most ambitious cinematic event, Dev said, “It’s not just Indian cinema we’re talking about. This is Marvel-level scale. It’s universal. It demands respect.”
the film It has an interesting cast, with Ranbir Kapoor playing the role of Ram, Sunny Deol playing the role of Hanuman, Dev playing the role of Vishwamitra, Sai Pallavi playing the role of Sita and Ravi Dubey playing the role of Lakshman. The film is going to be released in two parts, the first installment will be released in Diwali 2026 and the second in 2027.