Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha Poster Controversy: The Vanar With Spectacles, Explained

The Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha poster controversy started with a pair of spectacles that should never have existed. A character poster for the newly released mythological film showed Sugriva surrounded by his Vanar Sena — and social media spotted a vanar in the background who appeared to be wearing modern glasses. The question wrote itself: 'Treta yug me bhi chashma lagate the?' (Did people wear glasses in the Treta Yuga?) Within hours the poster was a meme fest.

But the film's makers have hit back hard, saying the viral image is promotional artwork — not a scene from the film — and challenging critics to prove otherwise. Here is what really happened.

What happened

Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha, directed by Abhishek Singh and released in cinemas on September 25, 2026, is a retelling of the Ramayana starring Dev Sharma as Shri Ram, Anjali Arora as Sita and Rajniesh Duggal in a key role. Two days before release, the film's production house, Mahobiya Film Production, unveiled a series of character posters, including one introducing Sugriv in his human form surrounded by members of his Vanar Sena. Viewers zoomed in on a character standing behind him and saw what looked unmistakably like a pair of spectacles. The Indian Express reported on September 26 that the poster had sparked a full-blown troll fest, with users joking about time travel — 'Time traveller hai woh… Tretayug me gaya tha' — and others taking sarcastic digs at ancient-India invention claims.

The backlash was amplified by the film's timing. It arrived in theatres just as excitement was building for Nitesh Tiwari's much bigger Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Sunny Deol and Ravi Dubey — so every frame of the smaller film was being scrutinised. Anjali Arora's casting as Sita had already drawn criticism when it was announced, and the glasses detail gave trolls a second target. IBTimes India noted that other costumes in the poster also struck viewers as out of sync with how the Treta Yuga is traditionally depicted.

What is Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha?

Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha is a Hindi and Chhattisgarhi mythological drama that released on September 25, 2026. It is one of several Ramayana adaptations Indian cinema has produced across generations — from the classic television versions to Om Raut's Adipurush and the upcoming Nitesh Tiwari epic. The film follows the standard Ramayan narrative with Dev Sharma playing Shri Ram and Anjali Arora — known earlier for her social media presence and reality television — playing Mata Sita. The production house Mahobiya Film Production positioned it as a devotional retelling ahead of the festive season, releasing it in both Hindi and Chhattisgarhi across cinemas.

“If this visual really appears in the film, please share a genuine theatre-captured screenshot or give the exact scene and timestamp where a Vanar Sena member is shown wearing glasses.”

What the makers said

On September 27, the makers broke their silence in a conversation with India Today. Director Abhishek Singh and the team said the viral image is promotional artwork created for the film's marketing campaign — and does not appear anywhere in the theatrical version. 'If this visual really appears in the film, please share a genuine theatre-captured screenshot or give the exact scene and timestamp where a Vanar Sena member is shown wearing glasses.

We will respond publicly,' the makers said. 'But repeatedly presenting a promotional image as a film scene is misleading.' The Hindustan Times reported that the team challenged trolls to identify the alleged scene in the movie and urged audiences to watch the complete film before forming an opinion.

The makers were also careful to say they have no problem with criticism itself. 'Criticism is part of filmmaking and none of us expect everyone to have the same opinion. But criticism should be directed at the film people have actually watched.

When promotional images, edited visuals or isolated assets begin circulating as evidence of alleged scenes in the film, we as filmmakers have every right to put the actual visuals in front of the audience,' Abhishek Singh said. The team added that it plans to release footage from the film to demonstrate the difference between the movie and the image circulating online — a promise that, if kept, should settle the argument for good.

Why the poster went viral

The controversy tapped into a familiar internet reflex: the anachronism hunt. The Ramayana is set in the Treta Yuga, an age of antiquity in Hindu cosmology, so any modern object in its retelling reads as a continuity error. Memes flourished because the image was funny on its face — a bespectacled vanar warrior — and because the internet loves catching period dramas slipping.

The Times of India documented the wave of reactions, from 'Saw glasses for the first time in the Treta Yuga' to jokes that the character had time-travelled. The framing of the debate also helped it spread: unlike criticism of the film's quality, this was a single, shareable image that needed no context to be funny.

Interestingly, the makers' core point is hard to dismiss. Character posters and promotional art in Indian cinema are routinely stylised, and treating marketing collateral as a frame from the film is a genuine category error. Whether audiences accept that defence is another matter — once an image becomes a meme, the correction rarely travels as far as the joke. That said, the team's decision to invite critics to produce a timestamped screenshot, and to promise released footage, is a stronger response than the usual defensive statement, and it puts the burden of proof back on the trolls.

What happens next

Two things will decide how this ends. First, whether the makers follow through on releasing footage that distinguishes the film's actual visuals from the promotional poster — that would close the factual question. Second, how the film performs at the box office once the meme cycle moves on.

Mythological films in India have a devoted audience, and the Ramayana's pull across Ayodhya, Varanasi and the wider Ramayana-circuit pilgrimage towns means devotional retellings can find viewers regardless of internet noise. If the theatrical experience contains no bespectacled vanars, the controversy will likely be remembered as a marketing-era curiosity rather than a film flaw. Either way, it is a useful reminder for the social-media age: the poster is not the picture.

The Ramayana on screen: a history of scrutiny

The Ramayana has been retold on Indian screens for generations — Ramanand Sagar's television epic, animated versions, and now a crowded field of competing films — and every new adaptation inherits the same impossible standard: a story millions of Indians know by heart, held against living religious sentiment. That is why even small details detonate. Om Raut's Adipurush (2023) faced months of backlash over its dialogue and visual choices, proving that the audience for mythological cinema is also its strictest quality-control department.

Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming Ramayana, with its reported two-part scale and star cast, has only raised the scrutiny bar higher — every smaller Ramayana project released in its shadow gets examined frame by frame. The bespectacled vanar landed in exactly this climate: an audience primed to hunt for anachronisms, a meme economy that rewards the find, and a film without the marketing muscle to control the narrative. The makers' 'show us the scene' challenge is, in that sense, the only defence available — invite the scrutiny, then survive it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the film Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha show a vanar wearing spectacles?

No. The makers have confirmed that the viral image is promotional artwork, not a scene from the film. Director Abhishek Singh challenged critics to share a genuine theatre-captured screenshot or an exact scene and timestamp if the visual appears in the movie — no such evidence has surfaced.

When was Mahakavya Shri Ramayan Katha released and who stars in it?

The film released in cinemas on September 25, 2026, in Hindi and Chhattisgarhi. It stars Dev Sharma as Shri Ram, Anjali Arora as Sita and Rajniesh Duggal in a key role, and is directed by Abhishek Singh for Mahobiya Film Production.

What did the makers say about the poster controversy?

Speaking to India Today on September 27, the makers said the image was wrongly circulated as a film scene and called it misleading. They said they welcome criticism of the film but want it directed at what audiences actually see on screen, and they promised to release footage distinguishing the film from the promotional artwork.

Why did the poster go viral?

A vanar character behind Sugriv in a character poster appeared to be wearing spectacles, which struck social media users as an anachronism in a story set in the Treta Yuga. The single funny image needed no context, so it spread as memes and jokes — amplified by the film's release timing, just ahead of Nitesh Tiwari's big-budget Ramayana.

Sources