Please don't attack me with any derogatory remarks. I'm open to know more and change my view if valued points presented.
Ramayana is not a commercial story. I don't know why everyone is trying to make the best Ramayan movie in big budget.
For a big movie to be successful, we want the hero to have hardships and get beaten, for him to rise. But in ramayana story, Ram pretty much has loyalists around him. Going to forest but still has a loyal brother who never slept to serve him. Going for war and he got the army so loyal to him. He got the best superpowered being Hanuman by his side. He even gets an insider (ravana's brother) to join him and he is a war tactician. His other brother rules the kingdom with his footwear on the throne.
Yes I do agree he got played by his step mother and sent to forest. That scene is just an inciting incident in ACT 1.
Probably missing Sita is the only Hard thing in his story. And morever since Ramayana is not seen as a story and seen as a history for us and close to our beliefs, the makers can't even show Ram being hit and left helpless. That will attack our religious sentiments. In every rendition of Ramayana I ever read, Ram is never pushed back to that level. And adding to this, Ram is also flawless. He is the epitome of being the perfect human. This completely takes away the "character arc" part of the story telling which is a prime need for a big commerical movie.
Again as Indians we all will love to experience the story in big screens. No doubt in that. But the makers are very open about this movie being made for global audiences and a global hit. They are prioritising that more and pouring more money. But global audience don't have connect to Ram as indians do. So you can't expect it to speak to different people.
On the other hand, in Mahabharata every character is human. So even if you make a small part of that story as a movie, you can present it with full commercial value. Every character has flaws. Every character will get played. There is more rise and fall and rise elements. There is more drama. And more importantly we can show the lead characters pushed to the corners without attacking religious sentiments.
This is my personal feel and opinion to why ramayana attempts are not packing the full punch needed for an epic movie. Whereas your average low budget Mahabharata TV serial feels like peak cinema.
All these things said, if this new Ramayana movie could find a way to have that commerical elements while not triggering religious sentiments, I will be really happy that finally someone nailed it.