Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan featuring Arun Govil as Ram, Dipika Chikhlia as Sita and Sunil Lehri as Lakshman broke many records when it aired for the first time on television and even when Doordarshan decided to rerun the epic show after ages. As Ramayan once again aired on the national television, the star cast once again became the popular faces of social media. Every day new trends and pictures went viral on the internet. Also Read – Dipika Chikhlia Shares Unseen Picture From Ramayan, Says ‘She Was Reborn When She Played Sita’
Now, Dipika and Sunil spoke to Pinkvilla and revealed that the maker of the show, Ramanand Sagar had many cases against him. Dipika said, “Papa ji (Sagar Sahab) had a lot of cases against him. Actually, the story about dhobi is not part of the original Ramayan, it is more of a folktale. Over the years, it has developed into a story. Papaji had a lot of cases against him. While we shot for Uttar Ramayan, he wasn’t even there half the time because he was juggling between court and shoot. There was a lot of fury, there were scholars who did not accept this version.” Also Read – Ramayan’s Ram Aka Arun Govil’s on-Screen Daughter Natasha Singh on His Popularity: ‘I Was Unaware That He is so Famous’
When asked about if they ever faced questions over much debatable Sita’s agnipareekhsha or dhobi story, she said, “Every Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, where they are talking about abla nari, I would hear about Sita. There was this fundamental darkness of a certain subject and when people are not ready to listen, it gets difficult to explain. But, when they saw it this time (the re-telecast), people in the majority realised that they were bombarded with such wrong stories about Ramayan, about dhobi. Now, people are sort of okay as they know the reality. Yes, of course, all these years I had to keep explaining myself. Now, I feel my life is a little easier because people know what happened and why.” Also Read – Ramayan’s Sita Aka Dipika Chikhlia on Her Journey Post Show’s Popularity: ‘I Was Simple Girl Who Landed up in The Parliament’
Sunil added, “In fact, I had a little discussion with Sagar Sahab about the agnipareeksha scene. I did come to Sagar Sir and asked him why this scene is there. Ram is a god and he must know that Sita is pure, so why this agnipareeksha? I asked him will this not give out a wrong message and he explained to me the purpose, what you see on screen as well. There was a little correction that took place while writing where Laxman get angry on Ram for the same.”