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Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan is more than just a show for millions of Indians. It’s a story that every generation in India has watched and now that it’s back, people are glued to the TV screens again. Actors Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhalia and Dara Singh played the roles of Lord Ram, Sita and Lord Hanuman, respectively. Their performances looked very real on-screen and hence, people at that time used to worship them in real life too.
The show is also very special to these actors and their family members. On the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, I spoke to late legendary actor Dara Singh’s son Vindu Dara Singh about his father, the show and much more. Vindu’s Whatsapp display picture is his dad’s Lord Hanuman look from Ramayan and it shows how much the show is special to him too. While sharing anecdotes from his father’s shooting days and his performance, there was a lot of joy and excitement in his voice.
Read the interview below:
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Your dad played the role of Lord Hanuman in Ramayan which people remember even today and now it’s back on TV. Do you have any fond memory of him telling you something about the show?
I’ve seen the shooting of the show. I used to accompany my father when they used to shoot in Umargaon. It was amazing.
The team of Ramayan used to travel from Mumbai to Umargaon in a Surat train. They used to shoot in Umargaon. The shoot used to be of 5-6 days and once they were done, they all used to return to Mumbai for 2-3 days. We told our dad we want to come on the sets when you will be shooting the flying scene. So one day, my brother and I went with him to Umargaon to see the shooting. Everyone used to have breakfast in the morning but my dad had stopped eating non-veg when he used to shoot for Hanuman character. After having his breakfast, he used to get ready for his character for an hour. For the entire day, he used to not eat anything. He used to have either coconut water or some juice during lunch. My dad used to take out his make-up and mask only once the shoot got finished during the night time.
About the flying scene, I remember there was a person named Ravi ji who told my dad to lie on a big machine. My dad used to lie on it and shake his hands and legs and it looked like as if he was really flying in the clouds. He then told me to wait to witness something interesting during the lunchtime. After having their lunch, my dad along with Arun and Dipika used to open the studio’s gate and there were thousands of people who would come and touch their feet. This all happened 33 years ago. But even today, Ramayan managed to break TRP records and Doordarshan might have never thought something like this would happen. I feel like Hanuman ji will also help us for COVID-19. Let’s pray everyone gets well soon and all this ends. Hanuman ji first got sanjivani booti, now he may give us some doctor who can cure this.