Page 40 - Seniorstoday January 2023 Issue
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“mooch-mukut” (moustache-crown) serial According to information on the net,
would be accepted by viewers. It was then Ramayan had a viewership of 82 percent.
decided to launch a test project to see how it The repeat telecast was aired on 20 different
went, inspired by the idea of sneak peeks in channels in 17 countries on all the five
Hollywood. With a laughably small budget continents at different times. According to the
of Rs One Lakh per episode, offered by RS BBC, the serial has been viewed by over 650
Agarwal of Emami, they made Vikram million viewers. The serial had to be extended
Aur Betaal. Prem Sagar, an award-winning by the original 52 to 78 episodes, by force of
cinematographer trained at the Film & public opinion so that the entire story could be
Television Institute, found ways of shooting accommodated. When Ramayan was rerun
it on that shoestring budget, in their own in 2020 during the pandemic, it still broke
home. With typical bureaucratic cussedness, viewership records with 77 million viewers on
DD gave it a Sunday 4 pm slot, when kids 16th April 2020.
were out playing, and grown-ups napping. Prem sees the brothers—Subhash, Shanti,
The serial turned out to be a hit, but the path Anand, Moti and himself—as a kind of Vaanar
to getting Ramayan off the ground was still Sena for their father, who was immersed in
rocky. making the serial--driven by his faith that
Then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, made him indefatigable. Prem, who spent a
wanted DD to telecast serials that projected lot of time with his father and recorded his
Indian values and culture. After cutting memories that went into the book, which is
through tremendous red tape, Ramayan full of interesting anecdotes that also give a
started production in Vrindavan Studio in glimpse of life in the 20th century, and the
Umargaon, with some actors from Vikram way the film industry worked (like a close-
Aur Betaal being repeated, notably Arun knit family) and developed into Bollywood
Govil as Lord Ram. Ravindra Jain composed and branched into a home entertainment
the music and when the title track Mangal revolution. In spite of the several uprooting’s,
Bhavan Amangal Haari, was heard, the it is wonderful to see how carefully
country came to a standstill for 45 minutes. photographs, documents and clippings were
Even though it was a weekly show, shooting preserved by the Sagar family.
went on 24/7, and tapes were often delivered The success of Ramayan had unintended
to DD at the last minute. An unknown town consequences—media and political
of Umargaon was put on the show business commentators believe that Rajiv Gandhi was,
map, with fans descending on it like it were ironically, responsible for the resurgence of
a pilgrim centre. Ramanand Sagar, as Prem Hinduism and the rise of the BJP.
notes, went from being a “Movie Moghul to
TV Czar.”
Mangal Bhavan Amangal Haari- an epic title track! Shri Krishna was also successful
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