If the Ramayana, India’s epic of epic proportions is essentially about struggle, then it seems fitting that an ambitous project to bring it to life on screen (yet again), involves struggle.

Putting aside the complexity and attention to detail involved while working with poem of 24,000 verses, there’s another variable involved: money

Sean Graham and Vineet Sinha, two young filmmakers from the West are taking cue not from the nostalgia-laden 1986 Ramayana (or its Sagar Arts remake), but another epic that has captured attention around the world - Game of Thrones. A single Game of Thrones episode costs about 6 million dollars, or 40.2 crore rupees.

In contrast, the team needs a modest 50 lakh Rupees; they’ve touched a few lakh, and are rustling up support for more.

“We want the Ramayana to appeal to the global audience, to people back in the States, Australia, China, Sri Lanka and others; and to that we are shooting the Ramayana with an all Indian crew. It will be shot in English but will also be dubbed in various languages as well as in 20 other global languages,” Vineet Sinha, co-director, told the Bayside Journal.

From a 3 member project, the Ramayana team has touched 50

Our aim is to replicate the Ramayan exactly in the same way it was thousands of years ago. From costumes to armour, the brotherly love of Ram and Laxman to the faithfulness of Princess Sita and obviously the monkey-god ‘Hanuman’ all will be relived through our ambitious project” states Vineet the co-director of The Ramayan.

They’re putting up a 22 minutes live action depiction of the main characters and their moment of exile, titled The Ramayan –Entering the Forest. Shot with the latest VFX tech, camera drones and an international crew - the guys are doing it all for an experience that will capture the imagination viewers who’ve never even heard the word ‘Ramayana’, not just the expected diaspora fans.