Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana Ruling Hearts
In the 21-days nationwide lockdown announced by PM Modi from March 25 onwards, the public demands to re-telecast the legendry TV series Ramayana on TV. People in the lockdown are at home and want more entertainment. Earlier Ramayana aired during 1987-88 on Doordarshan. Soon the Doordarshan will broadcast Ramayana once again.
Soon after the re-telecast of the Ramayana TV series on Doordarshan, the viewership of it notched up to 34 million, 45 million and 40 million viewers on Saturday morning, evening and Sunday morning respectively over the same weekend. It has now become the highest watched TV serial ever.
On average, each episode of Ramayan got 42.6 million tune-ins. All four episodes of Ramayan gained 6.9 billion viewing minutes.
What is special about the Ramayana TV Series?
For the people of India, Ramayana is not only a simple TV series. The people of India have a spiritual connection with the Ramayana. It also has a deep nostalgia of the ’80s, when there was no internet, no cable TV and life was much different than today.
Who created this TV Series?
Ramanand Sagar created this legendry TV Series. He seems to have guessed the future of TV Series. He was the god for the 80’s millennials.
On which Hindu epic the Ramayana TV series is based?
The base of the Ramayana TV series is Valmiki’s Ramayana and Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas. Traditionally Maharishi Valmiki narrated the life of Rama.
Ramayana TV series will telecast in which language?
Ramayana TV series will telecast in Hindi. Maharishi Valmiki composed Ramayana in Sanskrit. Many translations of the Ramayana exist in various languages. The Tulsidas did the Hindi translation of Ramayana.
What is the star cast Ramayana in the series?
There are several characters in Ramayana. The main characters of the Ramayan TV series are-
- Arun Govil as Ram/Vishnu
- Deepika Chikhalia as Sita/Lakshmi
- Sunil Lahri as Lakshman
- Arvind Trivedi as Ravana / Sage Vishrava
- Sanjay Jog as Bharat
- Sameer Rajda as Shatrughna
- Dara Singh as Hanuman
- Bal Dhuri as Dashratha
- Jayshree Gadkar as Kaushalya
- Padma Khanna as Kaikeyi
- Rajni Bala as Sumitra
- Lalita Pawar as Manthara
What is the History behind the Ramayana TV series?
The epic TV series aired during 1987-88. The people pondered this series from love and appreciation. Earlier, the episode of Ramayana was telecast only on Sunday. Arun Govil as Ram and Dara Singh as Hanuman, the classic duo used to empty the streets.
How many Episodes does the series have?
Initially, the makers planned to run the series for 52 episodes of 45 minutes each. But, owing to popular demand, it had to be extended thrice, eventually ending after 78 episodes.
What is the difference between then and now viewership’s of the series?
As per the records, the Ramayana broke all the tv series record during that time. According to Wikipedia, The series telecast in 55 countries and at a total viewership of 650 million, it became the highest watched Indian television series by a distance. It entered the Limca Book of Records as the most-watched mythological series. The makers observed a unique thing about the series. The viewers were consistent towards it in comparison with other TV series.
The re-telecast of the Ramayana proved to be a boon for it. According to data from television monitoring agency BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), the show notched up to 34 million, 45 million and 40 million viewers on Saturday morning, evening and Sunday morning respectively over the same weekend. It has now become the highest watched TV serial ever. After the re-telecast, all four episodes of Ramayana scored an average of 28.7 million impressions. This means in thousands of a target audience who viewed an event averaged across minutes is referred to as impressions. On average, each episode of Ramayana got 42.6 million tune-ins. All four episodes of Ramayana gained 6.9 billion viewing minutes.
Which other series makers are planning for re-telecast?
Doordarshan right now is in full mood to make people relive their childhood. Ramayana is not the only series to be re-telecasted but also Mahabharat is also joining the list. The Doordarshan wants viewers to feel the actual nostalgia, so they re-telecasted the following TV serials again-
Mythological series-
Ramayana
Mahabharat
Historical classics-
Chanakya directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi on the life of the economist
Upanishad Ganga produced by Chinmaya Mission Trust, again directed by Dwivedi
Superhero Series-
Shaktimaan featuring Mukesh Khanna
Comedy Series-
Shrimaan Shrimati, a comedy starring Reema Lagoo
Rakesh Bedi and Jatin Kanakia for an afternoon slot
Shah Rukh Khan’s Circus
Detective show –
Byomkesh Bakshi
Drama show –
Hum Hain Na and
Tu Tota Main Maina
Dekh Bhai Dekh
The reason behind the people’s interest in the old TV shows as the fresh episodes are not telecasting due to COVID-19 lockdown. The people are sitting in their homes and want entertainment.
Ramayana is not only the TV series for the people of India, but it is also the spiritual emotion of the crores of people. Ramayana is the source of entertainment as well as the source of knowledge for the people. Amid coronavirus pandemic rush and stress, the Ramayana TV series is helping people to make themselves calm.
The Ramayana TV series re-telecast will not only engage the people but also let them sit and think about their current life. The impact of the series, will lead the viewer’s towards the self-analysis of an individual.