Veteran actor-politician Arun Govil — who played Lord Rama in the 1980s television series Ramayan — has praised Ranbir Kapoor’s casting as Lord Rama in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana.

Govil praised the Ranbir’s commitment and demeanour, describing him as a “very cultured kid” with strong morals and confidence that he will “do his level best” in the role.

“When it comes to Ranbir, I believe he is an excellent actor. He works really hard. The truth is that I have noticed he is a very cultured boy. That’s why I have full faith that he will do his best,” the 68-year-old actor said.

Recently, the film’s first look teaser was dropped by the makers. It received mixed reactions with some social media users criticising the teaser for its overuse of CGI and said Ranbir Kapoor did not look convincing as Lord Ram.

The script for Ramayana is written by Namit Malhotra in collaboration with Shridhar Raghavan. The film is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, known for his films Dangal and Chhichhore.

The film also stars Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana and Sunny Deol as Hanuman.

Ramayana will be released in two instalments, with the first part hitting screens on Diwali this year and the second part slated for a release on Diwali 2027.

Oscar winning-composers Hans Zimmer and A.R. Rahman are scoring the music for the upcoming film. Pankaj Kumar serves as the film’s cinematographer.