Classic Ramayan & Mahabharat To Return To TV, Confirms Prasar Bharti

Prasar Bharti is in talks to work out a deal with the rights holders of the epic teleserials “Ramayan” and “Mahabharat”, to re-telecast these shows once again during the 21-day nationwide lockdown by popular demand.

Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar conveyed as much on Twitter in response to a tweet by Akhilesh Sharma, the political editor at NDTV India.

“Yes we are working on the same with the Rights Holders. Will update shortly. Stay tuned,” Shekhar wrote on his official Twitter handle, @shashidigital on Wednesday.

With India coming to a standstill owing to the national lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, many on social media have written how these shows were hugely popular at one time. People also noted how life on Sunday mornings would come to a standstill when these serials were telecast on Doordarshan National.

“Dear @narendramodi ji @PrakashJavdekar ji Please consider asking DD, and advising other channels, to telecast Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana and B R Chopra’s Mahabharata daily. Perhaps two episodes a day each. They acted as magnets in quarantining people back then. They still can,” tweeted a user identified as @pranasutra, reports theprint.in.