Oct 13, 2026 8:30pm IST
Aarya Babbar Defends Saif Ali Khan’s Ravana, Says Yash’s ‘Ramayana’ Look Resembles The One In ‘KGF’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Aarya Babbar has shared his views on Saif Ali Khan’s portrayal of Ravana in “Adipurush” and Yash’s upcoming turn as the demon king in Nitesh Tiwari’s “Ramayana”. While he praises Saif’s performance, Babbar questions the novelty of Yash’s first revealed look, comparing it to his appearance in the “KGF” franchise. The actor, who plays Ravana in the theatrical production “Mahabali”, is quick to clarify that it is too early to judge Yash’s performance.
“I think Saif was very good as Ravana. An actor is only as good as the director’s perception and interpretation. So whatever he played in ‘Adipurush’ is also something what the director must have made him perform. But he brought about a different kind of intensity to the character,” Babbar told Variety India.
He believes actors portraying figures deeply embedded in Indian culture carry a responsibility to understand their emotional and spiritual significance. “We should understand them not just as characters, but as emotionally, traditionally woven into our people’s hearts. These are those characters that we are getting to play and that is how we should approach them. That is how we should show them,” he said.
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Aarya Babbar reiterated that Saif should not be held responsible for the film’s creative choices. “His performance, his look, everything was a director’s interpretation. You cannot blame the actor for that,” he said.
His response to Yash’s look in “Ramayana” was more critical. “Honestly, it’s too early to comment on what he’s bringing to the character. I did not honestly feel that there is anything new in his look except the costumes. It’s pretty much the same beard that he’s had in ‘KGF’ before. It is not a new look per se that I’ve seen in ‘Ramayana’. I saw a new look of his in ‘Toxic’. I did not see it in this,” Babbar said.
However, he stressed that his first impression of the look should not be mistaken for a judgment on the performance. “I’m really hoping the way he’s performed, that would be perhaps very good. Perhaps in the whole film, I’ll see a different Yash. For now, it pretty much looks like what I’ve already seen in ‘KGF’,” he added.
Aarya Babbar also believes Yash’s film is being shaped for viewers beyond India. “Yash is playing it for an international audience,not just for an Indian audience. And it’s visible with what Mr. Tiwari is doing,” he said.
In “Mahabali,” meanwhile, Babbar says Ravana will be explored through a more layered interpretation. The actor believes this production offers him an opportunity to move beyond the one dimensional villain. “More than what my interpretation of Ravana is, it is the interpretation of my director, writer (Ashutosh Dwivedi) and the production that we are doing in ‘Mahabali’. Ravana has never been portrayed and shown with the depth and the complex layers that our director Kulvinder Bakshish Singh is portraying through me,” he said.
Recalling his earlier performances, Babbar said, “I have gotten an opportunity to perform Ravana even before on television, but he was an out-and-out dark character. I’ve also played Ravana before for a Ramlila performance. Again, it was very massy. It was very dark. This is the first time that I’m portraying Ravana” with a different complexity.
He added, “I am very sure they have never seen a Ravana character written with such emotion and with such layering that they will see in this show.”
For Aarya Babbar, the character’s complexity lies in the shades that conventional portrayals often leave unexplored. “They always show him only with these one or two shades. But over here, because the director and the writers have approached Ravan in a very different style; as an actor, I have got an opportunity to show him in a different light. There is empathy to this Ravan. There is a different shade to this Ravan. There is Bhakti Bhavana to this Ravan.”
He also teased a major revelation in the production. “There is a very big secret of Ravan that unfoldS in our story, which perhaps very few in the audience know about,” he said.
Explaining why Ravana remains central even when the “Ramayana” is told from Hanuman’s perspective, Babbar explains, “Every character goes through a different emotion in the story. Every single thing Ravana does, influences how all the other characters behave, act and react. He is the catalyst for all their actions and emotions.”
Aarya Babbar believes that approach sets “Mahabali” apart from the two screen adaptations. “The Ravan we have created together as a team, is absolutely different than whatever you’ve seen in ‘Adipurush’ and whatever you’re going to be seeing in ‘Ramayan’,” he said.
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