Doordarshan’s epic serial Ramayan created by Ramanand Sagar has got the entire nation once again hooked to its iconic characters, teachings and life lessons. The serial that was the first telecast in 1987 saw a rerun on popular demand amid the Coronavirus lockdown and captured the imagination of the audience once again. Ramayan became a trend on Twitter after the telecast of its every episode with the several memes, debates, applause and lessons being shared by the netizens. It even established a world record of highest viewership at a whopping over 77 million views leaving The Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones far behind at 19 million and 17 million respectively.
In a group interview actors Dipika Chikhlia, Sunil Lahri and Ramanand Sagar’s son Prem Sagar spoke about the making of the serial and the sweat, blood and toil that went into creating this masterpiece. Sunil and Dipika were asked that besides the role of Laxman and Sita which another character would they like to play in Ramayan if given a chance once again. To this, Sunil said, “I would love to play the role of Ravan. Ravan is an epic character, he has so many shades and a variety of emotions can be portrayed. However, I would also like to play Laxman once again as I feel I would play him differently now.” On the other hand, Dipika surprised everyone and said, “I would love to play Kaikeyi.” She also quipped and said, “How our perspectives have changed over the years now, both of us want to take up negative characters.”
Sunil, Dipika and Prem Sagar were also asked that what was the difference in the audience’s perception today as Ramayan was being telecast after 30 years. To this, Dipika said, “The young audience’s reaction today from when the serial first aired was starkly different. The audience is happy that they got to know the epic and the story behind it. The young audience today accepted us as actors with good command over their craft and took the serial as well-executed and directed and appreciated that we could make such a great show when the technology was limited, the knowhow was less and yet it is way ahead as compared to other shows. They accepted us as good actors and appreciated us for our performance whereas the previous generation took us as Gods and Goddesses and put us up on a pedestal. We were godly for them and not humans who are playing the parts from an epic.”
Ramayan completed a successful rerun on DD National and now is once again being aired on Star Plus.
