Yash’s seven-year-old son watched his father play Ravana in Ramayana and cried during the Jatayu scene, saying he should not have killed the bird even in a film; the actor says he had to explain the role

Yash may be playing Ravana in Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana,’ but his seven-year-old son Yatharv was not prepared to see his father kill someone (Jatayu) on screen. During the film’s world premiere in Los Angeles, the young boy became emotional while watching the scene in which Ravana attacks Jatayu, the vulture who tries to stop him from abducting Sita. He later told his father that he did not like what he had done, even though it was only a film.Yash and his co-star Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita, recalled the incident during a recent media interaction. Yash had attended the premiere at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on October 27 with his children, Ayra and Yatharv. It was the first time either child had watched a film in a theatre. Speaking about their reaction, Yash said, “I could see they had so many questions because for them, life is just starting. They are understanding how to behave, how to respect one another. I was so surprised to see my son’s reaction.”

Sai Pallavi then shared what had upset Yatharv. “He said to Yash, ‘I didn’t like you killing that bird,’” she recalled. She explained that the child knew his father was an actor and had appeared in films before. He also understood that the events on screen were part of a performance. But that did not stop him from feeling upset.“He knows that it is his daddy and that he has done movies before and that maybe they were acting. But he said, ‘No, it is not nice. It is not good that you kill the bird even in the movie. I don’t think you should have done that.’ It was such a beautiful moment,” Sai Pallavi said.The scene appears to have left a stronger impression on the child than the distinction between his father’s real life and the character he was playing. For Yatharv, Ravana killing Jatayu was still something his father should not have done.

Why Yash wanted to portray Ravana differently

For Yatharv, Ravana killing Jatayu was still something his father should not have done.

Yash also spoke about the challenge of playing Ravana, a character whose strength and power are central to the story. He said his biggest challenge was making audiences believe that Ravana was almost impossible to defeat. “For me, to make everybody believe that it is impossible to defeat him, that he is invincible, getting to that phase was the challenging part,” he said.The actor explained that simply having a powerful character on screen was not enough. He had to make the audience believe in that power through his performance. “When you are portraying that role, if you are not convinced yourself and if you are not presenting it in the manner it is supposed to be, people will not feel it. I may fail the whole thing where people say, ‘He is good, but the role is good.’ There is a difference between Ravana being strong and me portraying Ravana to be strong. That is the gap I am talking about,” he added.Yash also wanted to move beyond the familiar portrayal of Ravana as a character who is simply evil. He said he was interested in showing audiences another side of the mythological figure and allowing them to understand his motivations and mistakes.“Sometimes you want to give people another point of view, give them an opportunity to understand that he also had some good qualities. It is not just black and white. To let people reason with him, understand what he was trying to do and where he went wrong. That was quite interesting and challenging for me,” he said.For Yash, the premiere offered an opportunity to see his children watch him in one of his most significant roles. But while audiences may be looking forward to seeing his interpretation of Ravana, his son’s response to the Jatayu scene showed that, at least for one young viewer, the character’s actions mattered more than the fact that his father was only acting.Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, ‘Ramayana’ stars Ranbir Kapoor as Ram, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Ravi Dubey as Lakshman. The film is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on November 5, 2026.