The serial that used to bring India to a halt in the late 1980s is back in a new avatar. Yes, Ramayan is back two decades after it revolutionised television viewing in the country to woo the new generation. Again produced by Sagar Arts, it is going to be the flagship show of the new general entertainment channel NDTV Imagine to be launched on January 21. This time the epic comes in the form of a daily soap and will be telecast during the prime time. The channel is virtually putting a cat among pigeons as the slot is replete with saas-bahu serials during weekdays. “The whole idea is to cut through the clutter. We can’t attract viewership for a new channel with yet another saas-bahu tale,” says Sameer Nair, CEO, NDTV Imagine.
So religion is the only way to consolidate a scattered audience? “We are not looking at it as a mythological serial. For us it is a story, which has the highest mass appeal and the ability to bring the whole family together. The point is though the number of television homes has increased from around six million in 1987 to 118 million homes, most of the these homes are still single television homes. Also 560 million Indians are below the age of 25. So a whole generation has missed out on the televised form of the epic, which teaches us to care, share and be charitable – values that we are fast losing out in the name of progress.”
Anand Sagar, who is directing the new Ramayan, promises the series is being shot on an epic scale. Anand, who assisted his father, the late Ramanand Sagar on the first version, says television budgets have increased in the last few years. “Today we can afford to use high quality animation and opulent sets to bring the epic alive for a new generation.”
A visit to the Sagar Film City in Vadodara shows how the Sagars are leaving no stone unturned to recreate the era in the 40 acre facility. Sources say six crores have already been spent. Interestingly, Ayodhya and Janakpuri are just across the road and Gurukul is just a stone’s throw from Ayodhya.
Anand says research has been done to understand the architecture of the period and Omung Kumar (of Saawariya fame) has designed the sets accordingly. Kaikayi’s peacock-adorned bedroom is a spectacular sight. “However, we have made sure that the opulence doesn’t come in the way of the simplicity and honesty of the story,” says Shakti Sagar, who represents the third generation of Sagars and has worked with the research team.
Idealism in question
Talking of the contemporary touch, Anand reflects, “For today’s audience we are presenting Ram more as a human being and less as a god.” Echoing the sentiment producer Prem Sagar, the most articulate of the Sagars, says, “Ram was the ideal son, ideal husband and ideal human being.”
Ideal husband? Many in present generation might question the ideals of a man who abandoned his wife after agnipariksha on hearsay. Says Prem. “We didn’t show the episode in the first version. It was only after people’s protest that we were forced to show Uttara Ramayan”. Anand says he is not sure whether he will show the episode this time.