Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan continues to hold a special place in the hearts of viewers, even nearly four decades after it first aired on Doordarshan in 1987. For many, the show is not just a television classic but an experience closely tied to faith and devotion. That is why every new adaptation of the epic is inevitably compared with the original.
Shiv Sagar, grandson of Ramanand Sagar and son of Prem Sagar, recently spoke exclusively to NDTV about his grandfather's legacy and his views on Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming Ramayana, which stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram.
Shiv had earlier said that, personally, he could not accept Ranbir Kapoor in the role of Ram. Explaining the reason behind his comment, he made it clear that he has nothing against the actor personally.
"I am personally not against anyone. We ourselves are from the creative field, so we understand that in the creative field, one has to take some creative liberties. We also take them sometimes. But our school of thought, the training we have received since childhood when it comes to history and mythology, is the Sagar school of thought. We play more in the realm of devotion," he said.
He continued, "Our research is also very authentic because people's emotions are connected to these things. These are living Gods. This is not mythology, this is our history. Even today, people worship Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman and Lord Shiva. For example, there are Greek Gods, but today nobody in Greece worships Zeus or any of the others. But these are living Gods, so people's wishes and emotions are connected to them."
Shiv also explained why his family has traditionally preferred relatively unknown actors when casting characters in Ramayan. According to him, a familiar actor can sometimes bring an existing image to a role, which could affect how audiences perceive the character.
"Our school has always believed in having new casting for this. We take unknown faces because there is no baggage with unknown faces. An actor has a past and history, which can sometimes disturb the character they are playing."
He went on to say, "For example, in Papa ji's Ramayan too, and in whatever Ramayan we have made, we have always taken fresh casting and fresh faces because there is no baggage. So, I consider taking an unknown face an advantage."
For Shiv, this approach is particularly important when portraying figures who are revered and worshipped by millions of people.
Interestingly, Shiv praised the decision to cast Arun Govil in the new Ramayana. Govil, who became synonymous with Lord Ram after playing the role in Ramanand Sagar's original series, has been cast as Dasharath in the upcoming film.
"But the way they cast Arun Govil ji, I think that was very good, because they have given him the role of Dasharath. I believe that was very smart casting. The audience that Ramayan has, Papa ji's Ramayan is the OG Ramayan. Nobody will be able to beat it, nobody. It was made, it was some divine grace, whatever it was that made it happen. So at least they will get some benefit from the fan audience that it has."
Ramayana is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Namit Malhotra. The two-part film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, Ravie Dubey and Sunny Deol.
Part One is scheduled to release in theatres this November, while the second part is expected around Diwali 2027.
