Ramayan (1987 TV series)

Ramayan
Ramayan promotional poster
Genre Epic
Created by Ramanand Sagar
Based on Ramayana and Ramcharit Manas
Written by Ramanand Sagar
Directed by Ramanand Sagar
Starring
Narrated by Ashok Kumar
Ramanand Sagar
Composer Ravindra Jain
Country of origin India
Original language Hindi
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 78
Production
Executive producer Subhash Sagar
Producers Ramanand Sagar
Anand Sagar
Moti Sagar
Production locations Umbergaon, Valsad, Gujarat
Cinematography Ajit Naik
Editor Subhash Sehgal
Camera setup Multi-Camera
Running time 35 minutes
Production company Sagar Arts
Original release
Network DD National
Release 25 January 1987 –
31 July 1988
Related
Luv Kush

Ramayan (also known as Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan) is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on ancient Indian Sanskrit Epic Ramayana. The show was created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar. It originally aired between 1987 and 1988 on DD National and it was narrated by Ashok Kumar and the director Ramanand Sagar. The music was composed by Ravindra Jain. During its run, the show became most watched television series in the world, it had a viewership of 82 percent. The repeat telecast was aired on 20 different channels in 17 countries on all the five continents at different times.The success of the series was documented well by the media. According to BBC, the serial has been viewed by over 650 million viewers. Each episode of the series reportedly earned DD National ₹40 lakh.

The show is primarily based on Valmiki's Ramayan and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas. Other sources used were: Tamil Kamb Ramayan, Marathi Bhavarath Ramayan, Bengali Krutivas Ramayan, Telugu Shri Rangnath Ramayan, Kannada Ramchandra Charit Puranam, Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayan, Urdu Ramayan by Chakbast. Ramayan was the most expensive TV show produced during at the time with a budget of ₹9 lakhs per episode.

When the series was telecast every Sunday morning, BBC recalled, "streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began." The series was reaired during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown and broke several viewership records globally; the show became the most watched TV show in the world with 77 million viewership on 16 April 2020.

Premise

Adapted and based on the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, the series follows the journey of Ram who goes to an exile of 14 years along with Sita and Lakshman.

Lord Vishnu decides to incarnate on earth as Ram, the son of King Dashrath and Queen Kaushalya of Ayodhya to kill Ravan, the evil king of Lanka and establish dharma whereas Goddess Lakshmi would incarnate as his wife Sita. In Ayodhya, a childless Dashrath conducts a yagna for children and as a result, his three wives gives birth to 4 sons. Kaushalya to Ram, Kaikeyi to Bharat and Sumitra to Lakshman and Shatrughan. The 4 boys grow up to be excellent warriors under Guru Vashista's training. Lord Ram is an ideal and perfect son and brother and is a role model to his three younger brothers and always respects his parents and their affection towards him.

After the brothers return after completing their education, Rishi Vishvamitra arrives at Ayodhya for help as his yagna is disturbed by some demons and asks Dashrath to send Ram to him to kill those demons. Dashrath reluctantly agrees and Lakshman also accompanies Ram. Shri Ram succeeds in killing Taraka and her son Subahu and also protects the yagnas. Rishi Vishvamitra later teaches him about many things required for future.

Later, he takes the two brothers to Mithila to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva's bow at the swayamvar of Princess Sita. Rishi Vishvamitra tells them about the birth of Sita from earth. On their way Ram frees Ahalya of her curse by her husband Rishi Gautama.

Cast

Main

Recurring

  • Sanjay Jog as Bharat, the incarnation of Panchajanya, the conch held by Lord Vishnu'; Dasharatha and Kaikeyi's son; Mandavi's husband; Ram's younger brother, and Lakshman and Shatrughan's elder brother
  • Sameer Rajda as Shatrughna, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu's Sudarshana; Dasharatha and Sumitra's younger twin son; Shrutakirti's husband, and Ram, and Bharat's younger brother, Lakshman's younger twin
  • Bal Dhuri as Dasharatha, King Aja and Queen Indumati's son; Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra's husband; Ram, Bharat, Laxman and Shatrughan's father, King of Kosala
  • Jayshree Gadkar as Kausalya, Dasharatha's first wife; Ram's mother
  • Padma Khanna as Kaikeyi, Dasharatha's second wife; Bharat's mother, Ram's foster Mother.
  • Rajnibala as Sumitra, Dasharatha's third wife; Lakshman and Shatrughan's mother
  • Anjali Vyas as Urmila, Goddess Naga Lakshmi's incarnation; Janak and Sunaina's younger daughter; Sita, Mandavi, Shrutkirti's sister; Lakshmana's wife
  • Sulakshana Khatri as Mandavi, Goddess Lakshmi's flower avatar; Kushadhwaja and Chandrabhaga's elder daughter; Sita, Urmila, Shrutakirti's elder sister; Bharat's wife
  • Poonam Shetty as Shrutakirti, Goddess Lakshmi's flower; Kushadhwaja and Chandrabhaga's younger daughter; Sita, Urmila, Mandavi's younger sister; Shatrughan's wife
  • Lalita Pawar as Manthara, Kaikeyi's evil maid
  • Vijay Arora as Indrajit, Ravan and Mandodari's first son; Sulochana's husband; slayen by Lakshman.
  • Nalin Dave as Kumbhakarna, Vishrava and Kaikesi's second son; Ravana, Vibhishan and Surpanakha brother; slayen by Ram.
  • Mukesh Rawal as Vibhishana, Vishrava and Kaikesi's third son; Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Surpanakha's brother; King of Lanka.
  • Aparajita Bhushan as Mandodari, Ravan's first wife; Mayasura and Apsara Hema's daughter; Mayavi and Dundubhi's sister; Meghanaad, and Akshayakumara's mother.
  • Shyam Sundar Kalani as Sugriva Sugriva-Vali's brother; Ruma's husband. Also Vali, Sugriva's brother and also played role of Yamraj God of death.
  • Sudhir Dalvi as Vasishtha, Raghukul brothers' teacher
  • Chandrashekhar as Sumantra, Dasrath's minister
  • Renu Dhariwal as Shurpanakha, Vishrava and Kaikesi's daughter; Ravana, Kumbhakaran and Vibhishan's sister. Her Nose was Cut by Lakshman.
  • Radha Yadav as Tara, Vali's wife and Angad's mother
  • Mulraj Rajda as Janaka, Kushadhwaja's brother; Sunaina's husband; Sita and Urmila, Mandavi, Shrutkirti's father King of Mithila
  • Urmila Bhatt as Sunaina, Janak's wife; Sita and Urmila, Mandavi, Shrutkirti's mother, Queen of Mithila
  • Rajshekar Upadhyay as Jambhava,
  • Bashir Khan as Angad, Tara and Vali's son / Vajramushti (Lankan General)
  • Vijay Kavish as Shiva, Parvati's husband/ Mayasura Mandodari's father, Ravan's father in law/Maharshi Valmiki, author of Ramayan
  • Pushpa Verma as Sulochana, Meghanaad's wife.
  • Ramesh Chapaneri as Malyavan and Agastya
  • Chandrakant Pandey as Nishad
  • Girish Seth as Nal, Neel's brother / Gandharva
  • Giriraj Shukla as Neel, Nal's brother/Prahasta
  • Vibhuti Dave as Trijata, Sita's caretaker
  • Sarita Devi as Shabari, Ram's devotee
  • Aslam Khan as Samudra Dev and various roles
  • Bandini Mishra as Parvati, Shiva's wife
  • Murari Lal Gupta as Akampana.
  • Mahesh Bhatt as Shatanand, Ahilya Devi & Gauatam Rishi's son, priest of Janak
  • Shrikant Soni as Vishwamitra
  • Kaustubh Trivedi as Kewat
  • Bhushan Lakandari as Vishnu
  • Sunil Verma as Garuda/Indra/Jatayu/Narantak
  • Ramesh Goyal as Maarich
  • Kapil Kumar as Akshayakumara, Ravan and Mandodari's Second son; Meghnath's brother
  • Madhu Priya as Apsara Avtar of Shurpanakha
  • Rajendra Jain as Kalanemi
  • Mayuresh Kshetramhade as Luv, Ram and Sita's younger son; Kush's twin
  • Swapnil Joshi as Kush, Ram and Sita's elder son; Luv's twin
  • Randhir Singh as Viradh/Rakshas/Sursa/Atikaye

Episodes

Episode 1 – Birth and childhood of Lord Ram

Episode 2 – Ram going to Gurukul

Episode 3 – Continuing Gurukul

Episode 4 – Vishwamitra comes to Ayodhya and Ram kills Taraka Rakshasi

Episode 5 – Ganga Redemption of Ahilya

Episode 6 – Ram meets Sita

Episode 7 – Sita's Swayamvara

Episode 8 – Sita's Swayamvara and Parashuram

Episode 9 – Marriage Preparations

Episode 10 – Ram and Sita's Marriage

Episode 11 – Sita's arrival at Ayodhya

Episode 12 – Discussion on Dasharatha's heir

Episode 13 – Manthra poisons Kaikeyi's mind

Episode 14 – Kaikeyi Demands Her Boons from Dasharatha

Episode 15 – Shri Ram, Sita and Lakshman preparing for the Journey to the Forest

Episode 16 – Shri Ram, Sita and Lakshman leave Ayodhya

Episode 17 – Shri Ram, Sita and Lakshman meet Nishadraj Guha

Episode 18 – Bharadwaja's Ashram

Episode 19 – Valmiki's Ashram and Chitrakoot

Episode 20 – King Dasharath's Death and story of Shravan Kumar

Episode 21 – Bharath Returns to Ayodhya

Episode 22 – Bharath rejects to become King

Episode 23 – Bharat vows to bring back Shri Ram

Episode 24 – Reunion of Ram and Bharat

Episode 25 – Bharath returns to Ayodhya with Shri Ram's sandals

Episode 26 – Shri Ram's sandals installed on the throne of Ayodhya

Episode 27 – Shri Ram, Sita and Lakshman meet Sage Atri & Mother Anusuya

Episode 28 – Shri Ram vows to destroy demons, meets Sage Agastya

Episode 29 – First meeting with Jatayu.

Episode 30 – Shurpanaka Encounter

Episode 31 – Sita Kidnap Plan by Raavan

Episode 32 – Sita Haran and Ravana kills Jatayu

Episode 33 – Shri Ram & Lakshman meet wounded Jatayu

Episode 34 – Shri Ram & Lakshman encounter Kabandh and reach Shabari's ashram

Episode 35 – Hanuman meets Shri Ram

Episode 36 – Friendship between Shri Ram & Sugriv

Episode 37 – Sugriv tells Shri Ram about Bali

Episode 38 – Shri Ram kills Bali

Episode 39 – Sugriv becomes king

Episode 40 – Sugriv and Angad come to Shri Ram for his blessings

Episode 41 – Lakshman enters Kishikindha in a fury

Episode 42 – Search for Sita begins

Episode 43 – Jambubant reminds Hanuman of his dormant strength. Hanuman flies to Lanka

Episode 44 – Hanuman meets Sita in Ashok Vatika

Episode 45 – Hanuman ravages Ashok Vatika and kills Akshay Kumara

Episode 46 – Hanuman meets Ravana and Lanka Dahan

Episode 47 – Hanuman takes leave of Sita

Episode 48 – Hanuman returns and tells Shri Ram about Sita

Episode 49 – Vibhishana is expelled from Lanka

Episode 50 – Vibhishana meets Shri Ram

Episode 51 – Sukh meets Sugriv

Episode 52 – Ram Setu bandhan

Episode 53 – The construction of the bridge is completed

Episode 54 – Shri Ram's arrow fells Ravan's crown

Episode 55 – Ravana and Sugriv duel against each other

Episode 56 – Shri Ram sends Angad as an peace ambassador to Ravan's court

Episode 57 – Angad's challenge

Episode 58 – Mandodari appeals to Ravan to listen to the advice of his elders

Episode 59 – Battle Starts

Episode 60 – Ravan comes to the battlefield

Episode 61 – Kumbhakaran is woken up

Episode 62 – Kumbhakaran vadh

Episode 63 – Devantak, Narantak, Trishira and other warriors are killed

Episode 64 – Lakshman fights and kills Atikaya

Episode 65 – Shri Ram & Lakshman are bound by Indrajit's Nagapasha

Episode 66 – Garuda frees Shri Ram and Lakshman from Nagapasha

Episode 67 – Lakshman get injured by Indrajit's 'shakti' weapon.

Episode 68 – Hanuman brings Sushen Vaidya

Episode 69 – Hanuman brings Sanjeevani mountain from Himalayas and Lakshman is cured

Episode 70 – Indrajit goes to perform a tantrik yajna

Episode 71 – Indrajit Vadh

Episode 72 – Ravana enters battlefield and fights Shri Ram

Episode 73 – Ravan attacks Shri Ram

Episode 74 – Indra sends his chariot for Shri Ram

Episode 75 – Ravan vadh and end of battle

Episode 76 – Sita Agni-pariksha

Episode 77 – Shri Ram heads for Ayodhya

Episode 78 – The coronation of Shri Ram

Production

Ramayan was regarded as the most expensive TV show produced during the time with a budget ₹9 lakhs per episode.

Development

Writing for the Indian Express upon completion of the airing of the series' final episode, former bureaucrat S. S. Gill wrote that it was during his tenure as the secretary with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in September 1985 that he contacted Ramanand Sagar in association with the project.

Gill added that in a letter to Sagar, he had written about the Ramayana as a subject for the television series was ideal in that it was "a repository of moral and social values" and that its message was "secular and universal".

He added that he had noted in the letter that Sagar's "real challenge would lie in seeing the epic "with the eyes of a modern man and relating its message to the spiritual and emotional needs of our age".

Gill added that he also wrote a similar letter to B. R. Chopra over the production of the series Mahabharat based on another epic of the same name, and mentioned that both he and Sagar accepted to his suggestions and constituted panels of experts and scholars to conceptualize the production.

The series was initially conceptualized to run for 52 episodes of 45 minutes each. But, owing to popular demand it had to be extended thrice, eventually ending after 78 episodes.

Initially, Both Ramayan and Mahabharat was planned to air together, but later it was decided to air Ramayan first which was followed by Mahabharat after its end.

Casting

I remember I had given an audition for Ram and I failed initially. I don’t know what happened. The photoshoot happened with the look and make-up but I wasn’t looking like Lord Ram... Then we thought of adding a smile and then everything got sorted.

— Arun Govil

Govil expressed his desire to play Rama and appeared for a screen test. Initially, he was considered to be inappropriate for the role. He then appeared for the screen test again wearing a smile on his face and got finalized for the role. Since Govil's collaboration with Debashree Roy in Kanak Mishra's Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981) was adulated, the actress was approached to play Sita but due to her hectic schedule in Bengali cinema, she failed to appear for the screen test.

Several other famous actresses were approached as well but all of them backed off due to the prevalent premonition that playing the role of Lady Sita would blemish their romantic appeal resulting doom to their on-screen career. Deepika Chikhalia was then summoned to appear for the screen test. She had to undergo rigorous screen tests and was finalized then.

Sanjay Jog was originally approached for the role of Lakshmana but he refused since he was unable to give bulk dates. Sagar then urged him to play Bharata since the role would not require bulk dates. The role of Lakshmana then went to Sunil Lahiri.

Arvind Trivedi went to audition for the role of a boatman where Ramanand Sagar chose him as Ravan. However, when Trivedi rejected the offer, Paresh Rawal convinced him for playing the role. Vijay Kavish played three roles in the series which were Shiva, Valmiki and Mayasura.

Broadcast

In India, the series was originally broadcast on DD National from 25 January 1987 to 31 July 1988 with widespread acclaim. BBC recorded that it had a viewership of 82 percent, highest viewership in the world.

Reruns of the series aired on Star Plus and Star Utsav in 2000s. It was re-telecast again between March and April 2020 during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India on DD National and broke all records for viewership globally for any TV show. Hundreds of millions of viewers have watched the series during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India.

DD National said on 16 April 2020 the show created a world record: 77 million people watched the show in one day. It was again telecasted on StarPlus from 4 May 2020. The show is dubbed in Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil which aired on Star Suvarna, Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Star Maa and Star Vijay respectively.

Reception and legacy

After just few episodes had been released, the show received widespread critical acclaim for Ramanand Sagar's writing and direction as well as its casting and Ravindra Jain's music.

D. K. Bose, the media director of Hindustan Thompson Associates, remarked, "The unique thing about the Ramayana was its consistency. Other programs like Buniyaad and even Hum Log did achieve viewership of around 80 percent and more, on occasion. In the case of Ramayana, that figure had been maintained almost from the beginning."

He added, “Starting at around 50 percent the 80 percent figure was reached within a few months and never went down. The viewership was more than 50 percent even in the predominantly non-Hindi speaking southern Indian States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The show's popularity spanned across religions and people of the Islam faith watched in high numbers as well. It was common among people threatening to burn down the local electricity board headquarters during a power outage."

The success of the series was documented well by the media. Soutik Biswas of BBC recalled that when the series was telecast every Sunday morning, "streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began."

Writing for the Telegraph, William Dalrymple noted, "In villages across south Asia, hundreds of people would gather around a single set to watch the gods and demons play out their destinies. In the noisiest and most bustling cities, trains, buses and cars came to a sudden halt, and a strange hush fell over the bazaars. In Delhi, government meetings had to be rescheduled after the entire cabinet failed to turn up for an urgent briefing."

Political

Regarding initial apprehensions about the series being aired by a government-owned broadcaster, it's hitherto producer Sharad Dutt said that "a lot of people within the channel's office weren't supportive of the idea, to begin with. But it had no motivation with what was going on politically. The Congress was in power and it had no agenda of the sort.". Sharma noted that the political clout the series held could be adjudged by the fact that Sagar and Arun Govil (who played Rama) "were repeatedly courted by both the Congress and the BJP to campaign for them", and that Deepika Chikhalia (Sita) and Arvind Trivedi (Ravana) went on to become members of parliament.

Arvind Rajagopal in his book Politics After Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India (2000) wrote that with the series, the government "violated a decades-old taboo on religious partisanship, and Hindu nationalists made the most of the opportunity." It confirmed to the idea of Hindu awakening and the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party capitalizing on this."

Manik Sharma of Hindustan Times voiced similar views in that the series "played in the backdrop of a Hindutva shift in Indian politics, under the aegis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political outfit, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the media and cultural commentators struggled to consider Sagar's epic one way or the other, there were some who saw it as a catalyst, even if unintended, to the turmoil that the movement resulted in."

The series was re-telecast from 28 March 2020 with one hour episode during the morning and one hour episode during the night during the lockdown of 21 days due to coronavirus on DD National.

Ratings

Week and year BARC viewership (Hindi GEC overall) BARC viewership (Hindi GEC free) BARC viewership (Hindi GEC pay) BARC viewership (Hindi GEC rural) BARC viewership (Hindi GEC urban) Ref.
Impressions (millions) Ranking Impressions (millions) Ranking Impressions (millions) Ranking Impressions (millions) Ranking Impressions (millions) Ranking
Week 14 of 2020 61397 1 — 27169 1 34228 1
Week 15 of 2020 67473 1 30619 1 36854 1
Week 16 of 2020 68687 1 17693 1 50994 1 30887 1 37800 1

Ramayan notably broke viewership for any Indian television series during that time. It was telecast in 55 countries and at a total viewership of 650 million and re-telecast (24 March - 18 April 2020) nearly 2500 million viewership alone in 25 days, it became the highest watched Indian television series by a distance, and one of top watched television series in world. It entered in the Limca Book of Records as the most watched historical series. On its first telecast (1987), it had 40 million viewership in India. That brought ₹23 crore revenue for the channel.

The viewership during lockdown garnered record highest ratings for a Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) show since 2015 making DD National as the most watched Indian channel since its premiere.

Ramayan garnered a total of 170 million viewers in first 4 shows during which DD National became the most watched Indian television channel after many years. The following week it garnered 580 million impressions in morning slot and 835 million impressions in night slot.

During week 14 of 2020, it garnered 61.397 million impressions and the following week it got 67.4 million impressions.

Sequel and remake

Main article: Luv Kush

A follow-up series Luv Kush based on the last chapter of Ramayana Uttara Kanda, aired in October 1988 on DD National. A remake series Ramayan produced by Sagar Arts aired on NDTV Imagine in 2008.