Prasar Bharati known to most Indians as Doordarshan is moving towards releasing Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and Mahabharata once again. The unprecedented move is in place amid the current 21-day lockdown around the country amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
Shashi Shekar the CEO of Prasar Bharati took to his Twitter handle to share the message about the highly successful shows. Shekar tweeted saying, "Yes we are working on the same with the Rights Holders. Will update shortly. Stay tuned." Shekar was responding to a tweet by Akhilesh Sharma, the political editor at NDTV India.
Earlier a Twitter user took to his social media account to request for the retelecast of both Ramayana and Mahabharata. He wrote, "Dear @narendramodi Ji @PrakashJavdekar Ji Please consider asking DD, and advising other channels, to telecast Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and B R Chopra's Mahabharata daily. Perhaps two episodes a day each. They acted as magnets in quarantining people back then. They still can."
Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana is the biggest and most expensive show of its time. The show crossed a budget of Rs. 9 lakhs per episode. It starred Arun Govil as Bhagavan Ram and Dipika Chikhlia as Devi Sita. It also starred Dara Singh as Hanuman. The show which is based on the Hindu religious text Ramayan completed its 33rd anniversary earlier this year on 25 January.
Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan became an instant cult classic. The show introduced many young kids in India to the story of Ram and Sita through a completely new medium.
