Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, which was first broadcast in India in 1987, is still considered as the benchmark for the many Ramayan-based shows and films that have been made since then. Starring Arun Govil as Lord Ram, the series was a massive hit, so much so that people would touch Arun’s feet wherever they saw him. Ramanand Sagar’s grandson Amrit Sagar, in a recent chat with indianexpress.com, shared that the Sagars were “destined to do something like this” and spoke about the days when the “nation came to a standstill” to watch Ramayan.
Amrit shared that he was a young 13-yar-old boy when Ramayan was being filmed and he spent much of his time on the set. While he didn’t realise the impact that the show was creating at the time, he would still enjoy playing with Hanuman’s gada and run around the set. A few attempts have been made at remaking Ramayan and the most recent attempt was done by director Om Raut with Adipurush, which released last year. The Prabhas-starrer was criticised for its mediocre dialogues and bad visual effects, and was panned by the audience soon after its release. Amrit shared that one must understand that if they are making Ramayan, “they have to follow the story to the tee.”
He said, “Because it’s not a story, it is a part of people’s life. We living in cities and metros, we actually forget that there is a big segment of India that reads that text every day. They know the text verbatim. So for us to try and change something that has been written eons ago and has been accepted as a granth… It’s like trying to change the Bible. It’s sacrilege. You don’t do that kind of stuff. Follow the text according to how it’s been written and then try and do your honest work in that given space. You can’t hurt the sentiments of so many people, that’s wrong.”
When asked about Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming film based on Ramayan, which stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Amrit said that everyone has the right to make Ramayan, but they should do it honestly. He also spoke about the culture of Ramleelas in the country and how they too, follow the story as it is. “I feel that Ramayan should be made by everybody, why not? Nobody has a copyright on Ramayan. My only thing with that is do it honestly. Don’t try and make the Ramayan like ‘Now I will make the Ramayan through this person’s perspective, or that person’s perspective. Ramayan is not that. It is the story of Ram, that is why it is titled Ramayan,” he said and added, “Ramleelas have been happening in this country for centuries. And they follow the story completely.”
Last year, when Adipurush was being criticised by viewers for its dialogues, writer Manoj Muntashir defended it by giving the example of Ramleelas. One of the dialogues that came under fire, “Tel tere baap ka. Aag bhi tere baap ki. Toh jalegi bhi tere baap ki” was defended by Manoj by using the example of Ramleelas. He told The Lallantop, “We were looking at it through the lens of Ramleela and maybe this was a mistake.” In a chat with Republic World, he said, “A very meticulous thought process that has gone into writing the dialogues for Bajrangbali. We have made it simple because we have to understand one thing (that) if there are multiple characters in a film, all of them can’t speak the language. There has to be a kind of diversion, a division.”
