Aarya Babbar says Yash's Ravana look recalls KGF, backs Saif's Adipurush turn

Aarya Babbar, who plays Ravana in the stage production Mahabali, says Yash's first look as the demon king in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana offers little that is new apart from the costumes. "It's pretty much the same beard that he's had in KGF before," the actor said. He added that he saw a fresh look from Yash in Toxic, but not in this one.

He kept the look apart from the performance. Babbar said it was too early to judge what Yash brings to the role, and that he hopes to see "a different Yash" across the full film. In his view, the star is playing Ravana for an international audience, and he said the director's approach shows the same aim.

On Adipurush, Babbar defended Saif Ali Khan and called him "very good as Ravana". An actor can only be as good as the director's vision, he said, so Saif cannot be blamed for his look or his performance in that film. In a separate conversation, he said the Adipurush makers meant well but forgot that the story is tied to people's dharma and emotions. Interpretations of material like that, he said, can go wrong.

Tiwari's film also won praise from him for its scale. Babbar said the team deserves credit for trying to take India's mythology, culture and history to audiences around the world.

His own Ravana in Mahabali, directed by Kulvinder Bakshish Singh and written by Ashutosh Dwivedi, will show empathy, devotion and layers he says the character rarely gets on screen. Babbar has played Ravana before, on television and in a Ramlila, and called those versions darker and simpler. He also hinted that the show reveals "a very big secret" about the king that few viewers know.