The return of the Mythology (ARTICAL)

If you thought entertainment on TV was choc a block with only saans bahu soaps & tamasha TV, think again! There's a brand new virus on the block and it's called 'the mythological'!

Now here's the 1st flashback! Rewind to the year 1987- - the year we invented the couch potato. The year we invented Ramayan. This epic scale saga was followed by the equally epic Mahabharata.


Ramanand Sagar, the creator of the unforgettable Ramayana left behind a legacy of TV mythologicals and his son, Prem Sagar tells us why the formula still works.

Says the son of late Ramanand Sagar & producer of the new Ramayan, Prem Sagar, "1 in every 12 human beings on planet earth had seen Ramayan. It was shown in 50 countries. Across 5 continents. That is the kind of Ramayan Dr. Ramanand Sagar made." He continues, "Trains get late, traffic in Lahore and Karachi was stopped, why? Ramayan. Riots stopped between Hindus and Muslims, why? It's Ramayan time. Streets are empty; shikaras are not playing on Dal lake. So Ramayan created history. Now how do you ever expect that classic to be re-produced? It will have its own position, own place."

Well, we didn't expect it to be reproduced either but the Sagars are reproducing it! So we did the next best thing – we met up with actor Arun Govil who will always be known as Ram & asked him how he feels about a new actor stepping into his noble shoes.

"Why people should make it?" questions the earlier telly version of Lord Ram. "May be they want to reinvent themselves or there are no other stories. As far as stories are concerned they have become bankrupts but to my mind there is no point in making it. Since the earlier versions are still very much alive."

We agree but such was the aura of Ramayan that even Arun agrees that he hasn't been able to outlive or outdo his onscreen image even after 20 years! "Even if I would have done a few hundred films I would not have got that kind of name and fame which still carries on." Adds Arun. "It's almost 20 years now but most of the time I am called as hey Ramji is going not Arun Govil is going so it happened and it happens once in a lifetime."

Arun in fact recalls some hilarious incidents out of his life in those times. "People used to tell me that I should not wear pant and shirt and all that kind of a thing. You should wear kurta and dhoti. We fell that this dress doesn't go with you now anymore. I was a chain smoker and I got few times firing from the people stop it, throw it, throw the cigarrete. I said ok relax. The image of Rama was so strong in people's minds even in this industry, in the minds of producers and directors, the image was so strong they could not be convinced, neither the audience could be convinced about me playing other roles."

Most of us may still have a soft corner for the original Ram but producer Prem Sagar tells us that when it comes to Ramayan – the audience never seems to get bored!

"The very fact that a news channel starts with a 0.1, 0.2 TRP even if it is backed by some very, very rich people," explains Prem Sagar. "Ramayan has reached 2.8 last week showed it that means this week's no. will go beyond 3. So 3 TRP for a new channel is tsunami."

The debate over the old versus the new will continue but the fact is that Indian television believes in milking a successful formula dry till absolutely nothing is left!

So it's hardly surprising that TV mogul Ekta Kapoor has decided to join the mythological bandwagon & is all set to produce her own lavish version of what else but Mahabharat! Donning the mukut to play these popular characters will be some of TV's biggest names, of course ALL from the Balaji stable!

We asked one such star-Hiten Tejwani who is all set to play Karn in Ekta's version, if his fans will accept him in this new avatar!

"See I am an actor and I don't believe in that thing that I will lose my fans or they may not like it. They might not like it but s it happens when we took leap in Kyunki, in Kassauti I was doing an older role to my age but you know slowly people will accept it. At the end of the day it's the actor who's performing. This is Hiten Tejwani doing this role; if they are convinced I have done my job.

So like it or not, mythologicals seem to be the new flavor on telly and Ekta is wasting no time in cashing in on this trend. Here's a low down on who's playing what in Ekta's Mahabharat:


Hiten Tejwani- Karn
Aman Verma- Yudhishthir
Chetan Hansraj- Bheem
Arjun- Shabbir Ahluwalia
Ram Kapoor- Dhritarashtra
Naman Shaw- Abhimanyu
Akashdeep Sehgal- Duryodhan
Sakshi Tanwar- Kunti
Ronit Roy- Bhishma Pitamah
Natasha: Draupadi

With a cast like that, we hope that there won't be a Mahabharat on the sets too and can only sign off by saying Ekta – all the very best!
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