Arun Govil: After Ramayan, my film career was almost over

People invoke the smiling face of Arun Govil while trying to think of Lord Ram from the serial Ramayan created by Ramanand Sagar. The lead actor says that he is surprised that even after almost 33 years, people still have his image imprinted fresh as the noble prince of the mythological epic. 

The show had Deepika Chikhlia playing the character of Goddess Sita. The legendary show has restarted the telecast from Saturday on the national channel, Doordarshan. The rerun of the show has begun at a crucial time when the entire country has been in lockdown for 21 days in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

The series was based on Tulidas’ Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki’s Ramayana, and was originally broadcasted during the period of 1987-1988.

The epic series was so successful that Chikhlia, Govind, and Sunil Lahri, who played Laxman, were idolized as the real Sita, Rama and Laxman from the great mythology. 

Arun Govil began his Bollywood career in 1977 with Paheli of Tarachand Barjatya. He further continued playing roles in Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin and Sawan Ko Aane Do. 

After acting in a popular series Vikram Aur Betaal, Arun got the chance to work with Ramanand Sagar in Ramayan. 

The actor stated that after working in Ramayan, his career in films seemed almost over. He had done films before working in Ramayan but the image of Lord Rama’s character was so strongly built that movies did not happen.