Monotony, injuries, technical issues: The many challenges of making 'Ramayan'
Ramanand Sagar's three-decade-old mythological epic Ramayan recently returned on TV, and it was a smash hit. However, making a period show at such a grand scale, with little technical advancement in filmmaking at that time was obviously not a cakewalk. Technical and logistical issues and even injuries were common for the team. In an interview, Ramayan's stars opened up on the challenges they faced.
Speaking with Hindustan Times, Dipika Chikhlia, who played the role of Sita, revealed that she shot for almost half of her scenes while sitting under a tree. The Ashok Vatika sequence following Sita's abduction by Ravana required the actor to do so. However, Dipika (55) added that an actor has to overcome the monotony of such scenes.
Dipika said, "It does get monotonous but as an actor that's what your challenges are. You have to keep the continuity of the mood." "As an actor that's your input to bring in the character, make sure that you keep it alive and keep the thoughts behind... You just can't be sitting like a wanderer, you have to keep the mood...," the actor explained.
But monotony was not the only thing that troubled Ramayan actors. Sunil Lahri, who famously portrayed Lakshman, said he and his colleagues often got cuts on their hands while shooting arrows during the war scenes. He said, "Arrows have sharp edges at the end and we used to shoot them, it used to leave cut marks on our hands... It was very challenging."
Further, director Ramanand Sagar's son, Prem Sagar, told the publication that they also had to deal with the sheer shortage of costumes, lack of computer graphics, and last-minute pack ups. "Everyday there was an uncertainty that the episode will reach or not reach Delhi. Believe me, the Luv Kush episode reached Delhi at 8:30 am for the 9 am telecast," Prem said.
Ramayan, which originally aired on Doordarshan during 1987-1988, was the most popular TV serial at that time. Apart from Dipika and Sunil, the show starred Arun Govil as Ram, Dara Singh as Hanuman, and Arvind Trivedi as Ravana. During its recent rerun on TV, the show received a tremendous response and garnered a huge viewership. The show is now being re-telecast on Star Plus.
Meanwhile, Dipika is now all set to star in an upcoming biopic on freedom fighter and poet, Sarojini Naidu. The movie is directed by Akash Nayak and Dhiraj Mishra, and produced by Kanu Bhai Patel.
