Exclusive - What Ram's role in Ramayan gave me, don't think 100 Bollywood films could have ever given: Arun Govil

Actor Arun Govil, known for playing Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's hit TV serial of the eighties, 'Ramayan', is happy with the love and appreciation that is coming their way after 33 years due to the rerun of the show. In an exclusive chat with ETimes TV, the actor revealed that though his acting career came to a standstill after Ramayan, he is happy that he got to play Lord Ram in the cult show. He stated in the interview that initially, he felt bad about missing out on commercial Bollywood movies, but what Ram's role in Ramayan gave him, what even 100 Bollywood films could not have given. Take a look. Interview by: Vijaya Tiwari.

It feels great that a project that you had done is still getting so much recognition, love and fame. It feels good.

Ramayan is a very relatable subject and any generation can relate to it. The epic saga was relevant then also and in today's day and age also it is quite relevant. Ramayan's basic points will never lose its importance and can never get old. It's all about relationships and it can never grow old. It is part of our culture and luckily the youth got so much time because of the lockdown to connect with it. I feel bringing it back during the lockdown period has played an important role that the generation has been able to catch up the show. We are currently going through a very tragic time all over the world and we have all the time right now, so they could relate with the show even more.

All the shows that came during that time were good and had beautiful concepts and they have not lost their charm. If you watch it again, the shows still look fresh and you will love watching it. Also, when you watch these old shows you get a change as you are used to watching similar content on TV. They are very different from the content that we see on TV today. It has values, teachings and the success of these shows goes on to prove that we still have goodness inside us, we just need to clean it up and bring it up to the fore.

There are always advantages and disadvantages in life. So, you have to look at the advantages you have got in life or you have the choice to look at the disadvantages. Like the things you lost were they really important ?. In life you always lose and win some. It all depends on the perspective we have towards life ki humare haanth se kya chala gaya... par ab kya hai humare paas aur kya mila. I won't deny initially, I felt bad that because of the strong image of Lord Ram that I portrayed onscreen, I am was not getting Bollywood movies. Yes, my career came to a standstill, but I soon realised that even if I had done those commercial films, I would have not got the fame, love and recognition that I have got after playing Lord Ram in Ramayan. If people are giving me so much of love, respect at even this age it is because of that character. I feel what Ram's role in Ramayan gave me, I don't think 100 Bollywood films would have ever given.

The shows that are running and coming back now were so good that it can be watched with the entire family. But the kind shows that are aired today, they can't be watched with the entire family. I always feel things from which we always get to learn good things will always be good. Today, the younger generation is able to connect as they are watching the show with their elders, and whenever they get stuck or are not able to understand, the elders are there to make them understand. The reruns will definitely make life good, but we will have to be receptive. Each character, incidents from Ramayan will teach you something. You can learn so much from Raavan, Meghnath, Vibhishan, but you should be respectives.

Content on TV has become very negative and only negative content is getting made, I would like to put it this way. Before the lockdown whenever we switched on the television we only got to see negative characters. All the female characters that you see on TV are negative and they are presented in a negative way. Female oriented shows are being made today and they are shown in a very bad light and you don't feel like watching them. When you watch these shows it subconsciously enters your mind. The content is bad these days.

We shot the show with basic necessities. We did not have Air Conditioned floors, our costumes were made of metal and they injured us so many times. But despite all that, Ramayan has come out beautifully and today we call it a cult show. I believe when you want to work good things will turn out good. If you put your heart, soul, hard work into a project, it will turn out to be successful. Secondly, when you know there are hurdles, but if you make up your mind and want to give it a best shot, things can never go wrong. We did not have any technical advancement and we started shooting it at a low bandwidth, but still people loved it. Your intentions and attitude should be correct.

I had auditioned for the role of Ram initially but they rejected me as they did not like it at that time. But later they came back to me. The person who was playing Lakshman's role shot for 4 episodes, but left mid-way and then Sunil Lahiri was brought in. He was playing Shatrughan's character earlier but had to later play Lakshman. Our music director was Jaydev ji, but he passed away and Ravindra Jain ji stepped in. So, the title song is the only track composed by Jaydevji. So, there were many stories which happened during the course of making the show and we kept shooting.

People still love us the same way as it was 33 years ago. They still want to touch our feet or now take a selfie with us. The incidents I am sharing with you is about the pre lockdown period. Since, the lockdown has started we have not stepped out of the house. So I have no idea what kind of feedback or popularity will come our way. I feel honoured and great that even after so many years people still love me and want to get clicked with us.