'Ramayana Part 1' Writer, Shridhar Raghavan Trolled By Netizens For Story Credit, 'Valmiki Wrote..'

The first look of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana was recently launched and has already gone viral, featuring glimpses of Ranbir Kapoor as 'Lord Ram' and Yash as 'Ravan'. Meanwhile, the teaser also mentioned that Sai Pallavi will be playing the role of 'Goddess Sita' and Ravi Dubey will be seen as 'Lakshman'. However, in the film credits, people noticed that the story writer's tag was given to Shridhar Raghavan, and not to sage Valmiki, who wrote the epic thousands of years ago. 

Screenplay writer, Shridhar Raghavan, trolled for getting the story credit 

Ramayana's first look was shared with the viewers on July 3, 2025. Along with giving glimpses of the crucial characters, it also showcased a few cast and crew credits in a unique way. The 'Om' symbol was first displayed, which on a closer look was engraved with carvings from the epic, Ramayana. Then the title card highlighted the actors involved and which characters they would be essaying in the film. It also showed Nitesh Tiwari as the director. However, when 'Story Credit' was displayed on the screen, the name of Bollywood writer, Shridhar Raghavan was flashed. 

Netizens then flooded social media with memes on the Bollywood writer being given the story credit rather than the original author of Ramayana, Valmiki. One X user wrote, "What about brother Valmiki?". Another commenter penned down, "Valmiki wrote the story, rest write screenplay". One netizen also recalled that for the Hollywood movie Troy, which was based on the epic The Iliad, the story credit was given to the original writer, Homer. However, many social media users were also of the opinion that the film would add a lot of misleading plots for drama, which weren't present in Valmiki's original Ramayana, and hence, the story credit was given to a Bollywood writer. 

Netizens are sceptical of Shridhar Raghavan's script for Ramayana after looking at his filmography 

In 2023, another massive project retelling the Ramayana story, Adipurush, was released. Though people found fault with the casting and the VFX, one of the most trolled aspects of the film were the dialogues and the screenplay. Dialogue writer, Manoj Muntashir was heavily trolled after Adipurush release. Hence, people are again sceptical of Shridhar Raghavan's abilities as the 'story writer'. One netizen wrote, "Sirf Ek Hi Banda Ye Film Ko Bigad Sakhta Hai Aur Vo Hai Iska Writer - Shridhar Raghavan". 

A look at Shridhar's filmography has made people more apprehensive about the upcoming Ramayana's screenplay. It is interesting to note that he is the writer of the YRF Spy Universe for films such as War, Pathaan, Tiger 3, and the upcoming film, War 2. Hence, Shridhar's previous works have all been mass Bollywood entertainers with a lot of drama and action. So, whether that would pan out well for Ramayana or not is to be seen.

More about the upcoming film, Ramayana 

Ramayana will be released in two parts, with part one hitting cinema theatres on Diwali 2026. A year later, part two will be released in 2027. After the first glimpse of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana was released on July 3, 2025, people heaped praises on the background score composed by ace Indian music director, A.R. Rahman and two-time Oscar-winning composer, Hans Zimmer. The VFX, special effects and the looks of the characters were also highly appreciated by fans. The title card showcased that Ranbir Kapoor will be playing the role of 'Lord Ram', Yash will be seen as the antagonist, 'Ravan', Sai Pallavi as 'Goddess Sita' and Ravi Dubey as 'Laxman'.

What are your thoughts on Shridhar Raghavan being given the credits for Ramayana, rather than Valmiki? 

Also Read: Ranbir's 'Ramayana' V/s Prabhas' 'Adipurush', Netizens Compare And Say, 'This Is How Its Done..'

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