| Ramayan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Epic |
| Created by | B.R. Chopra |
| Based on | Ramayana |
| Written by | Ram Govind (screenplay) Hassan Kamal (dialogues) Satish Bhatnagar, Hassan Kamal, Ram Govind, Shafiq Ansari |
| Directed by | Ravi Chopra |
| Starring | Nitish Bharadwaj Smriti Irani |
| Music by | Raj Kamal |
| Composer | Maya Govind |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 48 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Bharat Ratan |
| Producer | B.R. Chopra |
| Cinematography | Dharam Chopra |
| Editor | Birpal Singh |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company | B.R. Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | Zee TV |
| Release | 2001 – 2002 |
Ramayan is a Hindi TV series that was aired on Zee TV in 2001.[1] It is a television adaptation of the ancient Indian epic of the same name, and is primarily based on Valmiki's Ramayana, Tulsidas Ramcharitramanas, Kalidasa's Raghuvaṃśa and Kambar's Kambh Ramayana . It was produced and directed by Baldev Raj Chopra and Ravi Chopra.[2][3]
The scripting for the series was done by Ram Govind and Research was done by Satish Bhatnagar, Hasan Kamal and Shafiq Ansari. Dharam Chopra was the Director of Photography.
Each episode started with a title song sung by Vinod Rathod and ended with a doha or couplet sung by Manoj Mishra and written by Maya Govind.
The show starts with Introduction of King Dasharath is shown. He returns victorious from a war. His three queens - Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi welcome him happily. Yet they were unhappy of not having an heir to the throne. Followed by his grave for not having a son, king Dasharath visits Guru Vashishth who suggests him to go to rishi shringi. King Dashrath goes in search for rishi Shringi, After many hardships, he convinces Rishi Shring for Santati Yagya. After completion of the yagya, King Dashrath has four sons, Ram, Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughn from his three queens. Kaushalya gave birth to Ram, Kaikeyi to Bharat and Sumitra to Lakshman and Shatrughn who were twins. It covers several scenes from the Maharishi Valmiki's Ramayana. Scenes of Ram going to gurukul and coming back are shown. Sita's swayamwar and Ram-Sita Marriage is also shown here. Along with them, the brothers of Ram - Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughn married the sister and cousins of Sita - Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakirti respectively. The brides were welcomed in Ayodhya. Soon afterward Dasharath desired to crown Ram as the king of Ayodhya. Manthara poisoned Kaikeyi's mind against Dasharath's idea. Recalling that Dasharath had once promised to grant Kaikeyi any two boons that she asked from him, she demanded that Ram should be exiled to the forest for fourteen years and that Bharat should be crowned ruler instead. Although heartbroken, Dasharath is compelled to keep his word. Reluctantly, he asks Ram to leave for the forest. Ram happily accepts the exile and leaves for the forest. Ram reluctantly accepts the company of his wife, Sita, and his younger brother, Lakshman. When Bharat learns that his mother is responsible for Ram's exile, he follows Ram and begs him to return with him to Ayodhya. However, Ram refuses, bound by his duty to carry out his father's promise. Bharat decides instead to bring back to the palace Rama's paduka and places them on the throne as a gesture that Ram is the true king. He decided to spend an ascetic life like Ram and Lakshman staying in Nandigram at the outskirts of Ayodhya till the end of exile. Upon his insistence , Shatrughn ruled as his proxy over Ayodhya throughout the fourteen-year exile. Ram, Sita, and Lakshman wandered in the forests, combating evil wherever they encounter it. They gained the blessings of numerous wise men and sages along the way. Thirteen years into the exile, Ravan, the King of Lanka, abducts Sita. In their search of her, Ram and Lakshman meet Hanuman, Sugriv, Jamvanta, and the Vanar Sena. When they reach Lanka, Rama battles Ravan and ultimately kills him, signifying triumph of good over evil. Lord Ram returns back to Ayodhya and is declared the King of Ayodhya. The series ends with coronation of Lord Ram.
There were total of 48 episodes which were aired every Sunday at 9AM.
Even though Ramayan did not prove to be as successful as Mahabharat (1988 TV series) but it did become popular. Within a year, B.R Films had released 48 episodes of the series. In May 2003, it was consistently in Zee's top ten ratings. Although its a forgotten serial of the old era, It was one of the most watched tv serial during 2002-2003.
While working on the sets of Ramayan, In an interview, said Ravi Chopra "Because of the phenomenal success of Mahabharata," , "The expectations from our Ramayana are very high. We have once again Nitish Bharadwaj playing the main role of Ram and Smriti Malhotra-Irani is Sita. We have better technology today and better facilities than when we made our first epic. I have depended mainly on the original Valmiki Ramayana and the Ramcharit-Manas of Tulsidas. At the very outset, I am planning to outline the value of Maryada, which is an entirely Indian concept and is epitomised by Ram, who is called Maryada Purushottam. Nitish Bharadwaj, who also contributes to the script with his inputs of research on the character of Ram, will define Maryada, a value which sets out the civilised limits and self-imposed controls of behaviour for people who want to live enlightened lives. Such explanations will enrich the narrative immeasurably.
"My sets are designed with great attention to detail. The costume team works closely with us. We have used references from sculptures, frescoes, temple carvings and manuscripts while designing of ambience, which is rich and ornate. Ram Govind is doing the script. We normally get the script of ten episodes ready and plan the look and feel of the serial. In mythologicals, casting and dialogues have to be perfect. The success of our Mahabharata was mainly due to excellence in these two areas. Rahi Masoom Raza wrote brilliant dialogues which linked eternal values from the epic to modern living and the result was almost electric. Even in Ramayana, the effort is to apply modern yardsticks to old values and to justify why characters took particular actions though they may seem incorrect in the present day context.
"Today, television is a game of numbers. Everything rests on how much money a serial makes and what TRPs it gets. The making of Ramayana is an opportunity to combine beauty, glamour, values, beautiful language, beautiful relationships, memorable visuals and of course stories which touch every heart. Mahabharata and Ramayana are fountains of eternal wisdom and immortal values. The narratives and the characters who play them out run in the blood of every Indian. Epics give a special fragrance to the Indian soil. They give all religions in India their soul and our culture is rich and scintillating because of them. Stories can be retold on television in every decade without losing any freshness. I’m fortunate to do this!"
