Ramayan: Hanuman aka Dara Singh to Manthara aka Lalita Pawar popular characters from the show who are not with us anymore

With coronavirus scare, the entire country is under lockdown. Shooting for all the TV shows, films and web content has also been stopped, bringing the entire country to a standstill.To keep the viewers entertained during this period, earlier, the national broadcaster Doordarshan decided to re-telecast popular shows from the 80-90's era. Amongst many other TV shows, Ramanand Sagar's 'Ramayan' which became a cult classic in the year 1987 marked it's return. The show once again proved it's popularity by opening up with great numbers on the TRP charts. It once again proved that even after 33 years of it's telecast, Ramayan still manages to enjoy an immense popularity amongst the viewers. The show's lead cast like Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia, Sunil Lahri, Arvind Trivedi are quite excited with the rerun and are happy to see the audience's immense love. However, there are many veteran and seasoned actors who could revisit the success again as they are no more with us. Let's take a list of actors who played prominent roles in the epic saga.

The late actor played one of the most loved and important characters of the mythological show. It was played by none other than late Dara Singh. According to reports, the show was shot in Umargaon and people used the pictures of late Dara Singh in temples and worshiped him as Hanuman. Unfortunately, he bid the world goodbye on July 12, 2012. His son Vindu Dara Singh had earlier stated that while his father was ill, his last desire was to watch Ramayan.

The veteran actress is best remembered for playing the role of cunning mother-in-law in many hit Hindi films and even she was an important part of Ramayan. Manthara's character is still fresh in the minds of the viewers. It was essayed by veteran actress Laita Pawar. She died on February 24, 1998, after battling mouth cancer.

Recently, after the episode featuring Kumbhkaran aired viewers were thrilled to see the character on-screen. The role of Raavan's brother Kumbhkaran was played by actor Nalin Dave. The actor started his career as a theater actor but he later also worked in Gujarati films. He died in 1990 at the age of 50.

The actor played Lord Ram’s brother, Bharat, in the mythological drama. He was well appreciated for his stellar performance. As per reports, he passed away at the age of 40 on 27 November 1995. Not many know that he was first offered to play the role of Laxman in Ramayan, but due to unavailability of dates, he had to refuse the offer.

After doing a few character roles, Vijay Arora bagged lead roles, but after tasting success, he stopped getting work. Then came Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan (1987). He was offered the role of Meghnad Indrajeet (son of Raavan). Without thinking much, he gave his nod for the role and rest is history. The actor is known as Meghnadh Indrajeet till date and is praised for his acting chops. The actor breathed his last on February 2, 2007, he died of stomach cancer.

He lost his battle to the prolonged illness on April 6, 2020 and is survived by his wife. Shyam Sunder began his acting career with Ramayan and played the role of Sugreev. Apart from Ramayan, he was also seen in films like Heer Ranjha, Trimurti and Chaila Babu.

Urmila Bhatt played the role of mother in many hit Bollywood films and acted in Hindi films for more than two decades. She played the character of Sunaina in Ramayan. Urmila Bhatt passed away on February 22, 1997. She had also been honoured with numerous awards by the government of Gujarat.

The well-known Marathi actress played the role of Lord Ram's mother, Kaushalya in Ramayan. She starred in many Hindi films as well. The actress passed away on August 29, 2008, after a brief illness.

Moolraj Rajda was in a famous Indian writer, actor and director. He worked in Hindi and Gujarati Films and TV Shows. In Ramayan, he essayed the character of Sita’s father, Janak. He even acted in Ramanand Sagar's other TV show, Vikram Aur Betaal. He was the father of fellow actor and Ramayan co-star Sameer Rajda. The actor passed away on September 23, 2012.

The veteran actor was well known for playing Vibhishana in Ramanand Sagar’s 1986 epic TV series Ramayan. He later went on to act in other TV shows like Aaha, Hasratein and Beend Banoonga, Ghodi Chadoonga. He also did several popular Hindi films. It was reported that the actor suffered from depression as he had lost his young son and later on November 15, 2016, he was found dead on a railway track in Mumbai.