Arun Govil: Arun Govil, who played the character of Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s famous series Ramayana, is not dependent on any identity today. He made his special place in the minds of the people by playing the character of Ram in the TV show. Arun Govil is also called the ‘God’ of TV. He made his debut on TV in the 80s. Earlier Arun Govil had worked in Ramanand Sagar’s series Vikram and Betal. In this show, he played the role of King Vikramaditya.
His journey started through films and he was given a special mention on TV. After that he did some more films as well, but in the period of 1987-88, his character as Lord Ram earned a lot of fame. His role was also appreciated a lot.
Arun Govil had told during an interview that when ‘Ramayana’ started, he had no idea. Shooting used to happen in Umargaon, away from Mumbai. At that time there were no mobiles etc. For some time, he had no idea that people were liking ‘Ramayana’ so much.
Scolded for smoking cigarette
After this, when Rajiv Gandhi, who was the PM at that time, called him to Delhi and was welcomed, he came to know how much his fan following has increased. Arun Govil told an anecdote of that time that when he was shooting, he used to smoke cigarettes a lot.
He told, “I went to a corner and put a chair behind the curtain and was smoking a cigarette quietly when some people came and started shouting loudly in South Indian language. Then I called a man associated with the shooting and said that I feel is saying that these men are abusing me, can you tell what these people are saying.Then he says that you are right that these people are abusing you that we consider you God and you Let’s do this kind of work’. After this Arun Govil also told that after that day he never smoked cigarette.
Photo for magazine not done
Arun Govil told that during Ramayana he had received many offers to earn money. He was offered by many magazines that you stand on the cover of the magazine with a glass, of course there should be water in it, but he did not do so. Considering the role of Ram as a responsibility, he discharged it.