Prime Focus shares climb; Ramayana's Rs 4,000-cr-plus budget, box office numbers, earnings, I-T search & more

Shares of Prime Focus Ltd rose in Thursday's trade, snapping a two-session losing run. The stock was last seen trading 3.25 per cent higher at Rs 273.15. At this level, it has gained 19.11 per cent on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

The stock's movement comes amid attention on Ramayana, the two-part cinematic adaptation of the epic, for which Prime Focus, through its production arm Prime Focus Studios and global visual effects subsidiary DNEG, is the main co-producer and technical partner.

Ramayana: Part 1 has reportedly received a strong response at the box office across Hindi and regional markets. The film is estimated to have grossed over Rs 930 crore worldwide in its first seven days of theatrical release.

Namit Malhotra, CEO of eight-time Oscar-winning British visual effects studio DNEG and founder of Mumbai-based Prime Focus Studios, has spoken about the scale of the project and its commercial ambitions in an interview with CNN.

"I'm not motivated by the bean-counter logic of, 'How much money did we make or not make," Malhotra told CNN. "If we don't make money with the movies, we'll make it in the merchandise. If we don't make it in the merchandise, we'll make it in the theme park. If we don't make it in the theme park, we'll make it some other way. This is the story of Lord Rama, okay? There is no version of this where people don't like (the movies), and it does not drive economic upside."

According to the CNN report, the two-part cinematic adaptation of Ramayana has a combined production budget of around $500 million, equivalent to approximately Rs 4,696 crore at current exchange rates, exceeding the widely discussed Rs 4,000-crore figure.

The scale of the investment reflects the ambition to build the epic into a global cinematic franchise, with potential revenue streams extending beyond theatrical collections.

While the project is co-produced by actor Yash's Monster Mind Creations, Malhotra told CNN that he is bearing the financial risk of the two-part epic.

"It's all my money," the report stated, quoting Malhotra. "I have all the risk ... I'm going all in."

When Yash, who portrays Ravana in the film, was asked about the breakdown of Ramayana's Rs 4,000-crore budget, on Aap Ki Adalat, "People have not let go of Namit Malhotra ever since he spoke about spending Rs 4,000 crore on Ramayana. This is the problem in our country. When we go abroad to promote our films, if we tell people that we have made a small-budget film, they may not give it the importance it deserves. We have to confidently tell them how much we have invested in making it. We need to showcase our country and what we are capable of."

He also explained that the Rs 4,000-crore-plus budget also includes the overseas marketing costs for both parts.

The production involves substantial expenditure on visual effects by DNEG, along with international talent. The film's music is being composed by Hans Zimmer, making his Indian debut, alongside fellow Oscar winner AR Rahman. The project has also used Brahma AI, a homegrown technology, to facilitate lip-syncing in English and other foreign languages.

Earlier in September 2026, Prime Focus informed stock exchanges that its subsidiary Brahma AI had raised $150 million through an equity issuance led by Multiples, at a post-money valuation of $2 billion. The company also said Brahma AI had received a further $100 million in investor demand and would evaluate increasing the size of the funding round to accommodate some or all of the additional interest.

Earnings

On the financial front, Prime Focus reported a 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue to Rs 1,267 crore in the June quarter (Q1 FY27). However, the company swung to a net loss of Rs 45.8 crore in the reported period, compared with a profit of Rs 110.5 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The reversal was primarily driven by an exceptional charge of Rs 66 crore related to the settlement of insolvency proceedings involving a dispute with Rasalfa Services.

Prime Focus is scheduled to announce its September quarter (Q2 FY27) results on November 13.

I-T search

Separately, the company informed stock exchanges that the Income Tax (I-T) department had initiated search proceedings at certain company offices last month.

"The Income Tax Department has initiated a search proceeding under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 2025, on the morning of October 07, 2026, at certain offices of the Company," it stated.

Prime Focus also said that the company's business operations continued as usual and were not impacted by the search.