Ramanand Sagar
You’re hyped about the upcoming Ramayana movie starring Ranbir Kapoor, but do you know the original Ramayana hype that our parents lived through in the 1980s?
That’s all thanks to Ramanand Sagar & here’s his story.
Ramanand Sagar, born in 1917, in present-day Pakistan, had a life of struggle working as a writer & then film maker, but he turned his pain into great writings & novels, inspired by the 1947 partition loss & other personal struggles, and found eventual success in film making, then pivoting to television as he was a visionary who knew TV was the future.
In 1987, Sagar launched a TV show that would change Indian pop culture forever. Spanning 78 episodes of nearly 35 minutes each, extended thrice due to its overwhelming popularity, at a budget of 9,00,000 per episode, Ramayana was monumental in every aspect. It aired every Sunday at 9:30 AM on Doordarshan, and the country would come to a literal standstill for this.
Streets emptied, people sat cross-legged in front of TV sets - some even placed flowers before the screen.
It became the most watched show in Indian TV history - reaching over 650 million viewers, including the diaspora across 55 countries. Over 80% of TV-owning households in India tuned in.
Sagar wasn’t just retelling Valmiki or Tulsidas. He drew from dozens of Ramayana versions - from Kamba Ramayanam to Adhyatma Ramayana - to create a pan-Indian, Dharmic retelling that wasn’t region-specific.
And that’s exactly why it resonated with every Indian.
This wasn’t just a show - it was India’s first televised Itihāsa. For most Hindus of that generation, this was their first encounter with the story of Śrī Rām as Maryādā Purushottama - not just a hero, but a symbol.
And context matters: this aired right after the Shah Bano case, when the Congress needed to appease the hurt Hindu sentiment.
So Doordarshan greenlit this epic, and Sagar seized the moment.
The impact? Beyond ratings - actors became divine avatars. Arun Govil as Ram, Deepika as Sita, Dara Singh as Hanuman - people touched their feet on the streets.
And many argue it laid the emotional groundwork for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that followed.
But Sagar didn’t stop there. He went on to bring Luv Kush, Shri Krishna, Jai Ganga Maiya and Sai Baba to television - single-handedly building the first mainstream media bridge to Hindu epics.
So if you’ve ever seen Ram as more than a myth - more than just a temple debate - you have Ramanand Sagar to thank.
He didn’t just tell a story. He re-awakened a civilisation.