Chandigarh-born Gurmeet Choudhary, Ram of NDTV Imagine's Ramayan, in a tte--tte with Seema Sachdeva
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Ramayan, produced by Sagar Arts, was the first show that launched NDTV Imagine. So there must have been immense pressure on you to perform?
When I came to know that Ramayan would be the first show to launch NDTV Imagine, I was very scared. In fact, one or two months before the show started, I could concentrate on nothing else. I had to make sure that my language and body mannerisms fitted the character of the biggest hero of Hindu religion. Also, I was very tense since the role of Ram in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan had been performed by an experienced artist like Arun Govil. I knew there would be lot of expectations from me.
How has the response been?
Despite being the first major mythological show since Ramayan and Mahabharata were telecast nearly two decades back, it appealed to the audience. In fact, within the first week of its launch, the channel reached number 3 in the TRP rating.
While it was easy to make the show acceptable to the people, making it a daily series was a big challenge, especially since the show was being aired at prime time and there were many reality shows competing with it.
Though Sagar Arts has launched the show, yet it hasn't been able to match the appeal and euphoria that Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan created. Do you think so?
Twenty years back when Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan came, TV was still a novelty. In fact, seeing mythological characters on the screen itself was quite magical. The entire family would sit together to watch Ramayan. However, things have changed a lot these days. With so many channels and options available, people today have access to a variety of entertainment.
Despite this, there has been a tremendous response to our Ramayan. This indicates that even today people want their children to learn the morals and values that are inherent in our sacred texts.
Do you think mythological serials are a formula to increase the TRPs?
Before the launch of Ramayan, saas-bahu serials dominated the scene. In that background, I would say Ramayan has been able to create its own space. In fact, it has also been responsible for spearheading a number of such shows on television. Today every channel has a mythological show running.
In these times of reality shows, do you think people react to mythological programmes?
Although a lot of reality shows and comedy shows are hogging the limelight, mythological shows have their own charm. Our show has received tremendous response. In fact, I was very touched when an elderly woman touched my feet while we were on a tour of Jodhpur and Jaipur to promote the show.
Most of the actors doing such roles tend to join politics after the show ends. Do you have any such plans?
No I have no such plans. At present I am only focussing on the concluding part of the show, which will be a grand affair.
What kind of roles do you want to do?
I am an actor and am open to doing all kinds of stuff. I am not averse to doing negative roles.
Ramayan is coming to an end soon. What are your future projects?
Though I have been getting lots of offers, at present I am concentrating only on Ramayan, which is due to conclude on June 26 after being on air for one-and-a-half years. My film Cycle Kick, produced by Subhash Ghai's Mukta Searchlight and directed by Shashi Sudigala, will be released soon.
Rups(JMGlover) has told on GDFC that she got the pic from Google then i searched where it has been posted so got the new interview of Gurmeet
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