As the whole nation awaits enthusiastically for the Ram Mandir's Pran Pratishthta ceremony in Ayodhya on Monday, January 22, we take you back to 2001 when Hindi television series Ramayan, based on the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, aired on Zee TV.
The show was produced by BR Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra, the same duo who had created the 1988 television series Mahabharat for Doordarshan. Nitish Bharadwaj, who played Krishna in Mahabharat, reunited with the Chopras and played Lord Ram in the 2001 show Ramayan.
The role of Sita was played by Smriti Irani, who had achieved national fame after portraying the leading role of Tulsi Virani in Ektaa Kapoor's soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, that began in 2000 and ran till 2008. Smriti is the current Minister of Women and Child Development, and Minister of Minority Affairs in the Union Cabinet.
In Ravi Chopra's Ramayan, Surendra Pal played the demon king Ravana. He had played the role of Dronacharya in the 1988 show Mahabharat. His most famous role has been of the antagonist Tamraj Kilvish in Mukesh Khanna's superhero show Shaktimaan, that aired on Doordarshan from 1997 to 2005.
Before the 2001 show Ramayan, Ramanand Sagar also adapted the Indian epic into the 1987 series Ramayan for Doordarshan. The show had Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia, and Arvind Trivedi portraying Lord Ram, Sita, and Ravana respectively.
Both Ramayan and Mahabharat, telecast on DD National in the late 1980s, became cult classics. The shows had record-breaking viewerships, and have had multiple reruns in the last three decades.
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