Go for it: Ramayan-Review

Go for it: Ramayan

Piyush Roy Mon-Thu, 9.30 pm; NDTV Imagine Its catchline screams - "India's greatest epic now on an epic new scale". And once again, it's the house of the Sagars that helms this new 'daily' version of the mythological that set television viewership records in its first TV telling as a weekly in the late 1980s. The directorial baton may have shifted from Ramanand Sagar to Anand Sagar of the second generation, with third generation updates in form of grandson Shakti Sagar as the creative director, but the style of storytelling still remains the same. Ravindra Jain's high-pitched vocals, ornament factory laden queens, over the top emoting a bit in the Ram Leela mode of storytelling, an indulgent camera that often forgets to cut at the right moment and more… from the signature Sagar style of story telling (at least on the small screen) remain, even in this new telling, and yet it enjoys a unique attract because its soul is very much in place. The presentation, once again, is devotional to contemporary with a frequent familiar opting in for songs from the Ramcharitmanas to bring out the essence of a scene. It might work in heightening the show's tug effect amongst the devout, but those looking for the Mahabharat (BR Chopra's version) kind of matter-of-fact story telling might be disappointed. The tone is one of constant awe (logic seekers be warned), with the supporting cast and characters liberally contributing to that feeling of reverence. The serial makes an unabashed appeal to the audience's devotion quotient, backed by music and lyrics that are part of the daily religious consciousness of a Ramayan or a Ramcharitmanas- reading population from the Hindi heartland. And if the aastha genre of channels has an audience, this one too will attract its own, though whether it will be able to match the success of its predecessor is worth watching. For those with even a faint memory of the original Ramayan, this is deja vu revisited with a fondness that might get them glued again, heightened by Jain's familiar and eminently hummable melodies, but the challenge lies in getting 'in' the new generation. So what's on offer in this latest take? You have leaner and fitter leads, never mind their newcomer, non-familiar status. The lead actors from the original Ramayan too weren't familiar faces at the time of casting, barring an occasional Lalita Pawar or a Padma Khanna. Omung Kumar Khandula's sets are impressive, but the special effects (helmed by Jyoti Sagar) range from the amateurish (the CG-generated parade of king Dasharath's army entering Ayodhya in the opening sequences) to the impressive Gandalf (of the Lord Of The Rings fame)-like ocean God rising out of the sea in one of the epic's subsequent battle scenes. The narrative's pace is right this time, but how about a slight toning down on the theatrics? For starters, can we do away with the excessive gushing and have some better-fed extras in the background. After all aren't we talking about a golden age of plenty and bounty in both wealth and health? The title trio of Ram, Sita and Lakshman are quite in the mould of picture-perfect Aryans, though the makers could have opted for a more handsome, younger and cheerful looking Hanuman, given his resurgence in the recent past in a cuter and mischievous avatar courtesy the series of Hanuman films. Verdict Go for it; it's a much welcome and far better change from the inane social sagas dominating the primetime, with many a valid message on duties, relationships and even politics subtly conveyed, apart from being a fabulously entertaining story too, that comes with a finite ending. And as before, the Sagars provide enough heart-warming moments, with the faith quotient in

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I agree and disagree with few things. I recently watched once again Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan along ith with B.R. Chopra's Ramayan, Vishnupuran and Mahabharat. Compare to B.R. Chopra's Sagar Production looks very week in terms of information, screen play dialogue and colors. I love Arun Govil as Ram even Laxman is also good but others not impressive unless you keep atching for a while then you will have emotional presure. However, B r Chopra had Nitish Bharadwaj for all lead Role og Lord Vishnu, ramand Krishna. Even All kaurav and Pandavs along with draupadi look more realstic.

B R Chopra's RAMAYAN is more informative which gives you more detail of each character not only doha or choupai from RamcharitManas.

Even this Ramayan looks like same as old but I have request that if u r making it again then make it more real with good looking stars. Sita was most beautiful woman on earth Please don't pick someone like Dipika whose pimple mark is so clear. Ram Laxman Bharat & Sharughna all of them are handsom and tall, Please pick Characters who fit in to this.Edited by mmishra1 - 16 years ago

Point id, the BR chopra productiuons, both The mahabharat and ramayan had a rwalistic appearance.
Here the inset appearance are good and somethimes exciting, but the on the open air spaces are not lucrative, we need to see deep dark forests and given such an age where we r used to high levels of computer imaging and graphics, just the lightening and higlighting does not work
Beisdes, at that time since the men had bare torsos i think the actors should give a thought about their looks. men at that time were all quite fond of body building and their looks showed tat. SO istead of belting out tummies of the kings we expect a better and well toned body. And that applyies to the queens too.

but inspite of that its teh ramayan wer talking baout and i look forward to revisit the oldest epic of india

B.R. Chopra's Mahabharat was full of mistakes, I've not seen his Ramayan, but at least with the Sagar's you can gaurantee accuracy.

I've seen B.R. Chopra's Mahabharat, it is FULL of mistakes and inaccuracies, therefore I feel the Sagar's Mahabharat version is better.

I agree with Mkerai
BRC tends to exploit his artistic licence to make the story more spicy but not necessarily accurate.
e.g. - he had Manthra commit suicide in his serial. He even has Kaikayee go on a fact-finding mission with Manthra on the eve of the Rajyabhishek to discover how the prajaa are celebrating Ram's imminent coronation - BRC insinuates that Kaikeyi was kept in dark about the coronation - unlikely since she she was Dashrat's favourite queen.
He also made Kaikasi (Ravan's mother) to be a bad person and the negative influence in Ravan's life - similar to Om Namah Shivay, Jai Hanuman, and Raavan.
Sagar's original Ramayan - showed the opposite - a very moral Kaikasi - exactly as she is in Valmiki Ramayan.

Besides this, BRC's Ramayan had bad side effects and some scenes were technically horrible - Hanuma's burning of Lanka comes to mind.

Yes, BRC always score with casting and didnt fail here again - but Smriti Irani looked uncomfortable as Sita.
Having said all this I still like BRC serials bec they always have a good cast, a good script, (the technical aspects fluctuates between wow and painful). However what they lack is Bhakti - Sagar serial make my hair stand on ends and they inspire me to be a better person and to read the scriptures for myself.