Ramayan starring Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia and Sunil Lahri has created history in just 2 months. The show was brought back on Doordarshan due to lockdown. But who thought that it would go on to give the highest ever TRPs to DD?
People are showering praises on Arun, Dipika, and Sunil who play the characters of Lord Ram, Sita, and Laxman, respectively. But Ramayan had a massive fan following even during the old days. In fact, during the 90s, BBC wanted to run Ramanand Sagar’s mythological drama on their channel. But Ramanand Sagar didn’t agree to it due to a big reason. His son Prem Sagar revealed the same in his recent interview.
About BBC wanting to buy the right of Ramayan, Prem Sagar told Swarajyamag, “They had decided to buy telecast rights to the Ramayan for the Asian population. Ramanand Sagar, Arun Govil, Arvind Trivedi (who played Ravan) and I went to their Liverpool studios for an interview before signing the contract.”
Trending
He further revealed the reason they decided to not give Ramayan rights to BBC. Prem shared, “But they wanted Arun Govil dressed and paraded as Shri Ram in full costume and crown through the BBC studios so they could film it. Papaji and I realised it was a calculated attempt to break the image of Shri Ram as divine, worshipped in every grain of soil in India. We refused their bait. There was a major battle of telephones being exchanged between London and Birmingham and finally, they didn’t sign the contract.”
Prem Sagar said that when Ramanand Sagar refused to give Ramayan to BBC, they opted for Mahabharat.
Android & IOS users, download our mobile app for faster than ever Bollywood & Box Office updates!