Actor Yash, who plays Ravana in Ramayana, has revealed that his two children, Ayra and Yatharv, watched the film at its world premiere at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on October 27. It was the first time either of them had watched a film in a theatre.Yash said his children were full of questions during the film. “I could see they had so many questions because for them, life is just starting,” he said. “They are understanding how to behave, how to respect one another. I was so surprised to see my son’s reaction.”Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita in the film, recalled a moment. During a scene in which Yash’s Ravana kills Jatayu, Yatharv began crying. “He said to Yash, ‘I didn’t like you killing that bird,'” Sai Pallavi recounted during the media interaction.“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.”How Yash approached RavanaYash also spoke at length about the challenge of playing Ravana, describing it as a role that required him to convince audiences of the character’s invincibility without relying on physical intimidation alone.“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,” Yash said. “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 also wanted to present Ravana as more than a one-dimensional villain. “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.Story continues below this adAlso Read: Ramayana advance booking: Ranbir-Yash starrer sells 4 lakh tickets in India, earns $3mn overseasSai Pallavi added that Yash’s approach to Ravana was cerebral rather than physical.“His approach, when we had discussed it, was that he did not want it to look like he was simply a very strong person physically, a terrorising man who would just go around intimidating people,” Sai Pallavi said. “He wanted to play it at a very cerebral level, where people would understand where Ravana is coming from. Why is it that he is that bad a man? Because he believes certain things a certain way, and given the strength and the kind of intellect he has, he could be invincible. He was given a boon of that magnitude, and so it needed Vishnu’s avatar to come and stop him.”Yash elaborated on the specific choices he made in how Ravana speaks and carries himself. “It should be in the eyes, not just in the physical appearance,” he said. “Imagine, this is the man who was the ruler of three realms. He was that powerful. When he is talking, how would he talk? Generally, we assume he will talk with arrogance or pride. But I did not want to take that approach. I wanted him to have sarcasm, wit, a touch of vulnerability. That was what I was looking for.”Story continues below this ad Sai Pallavi and Ranbir Kapoor in RamayanaAbout RamayanaRamayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. Ranbir Kapoor plays Rama, Sai Pallavi plays Sita, Yash plays Ravana, Sunny Deol plays Hanuman and Ravi Dubey plays Lakshmana. Music is by Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman. The film releases worldwide on November 5, 2026.