Ramayan in cinema and television
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As in 2023
Arushi Bhaskar, May 9, 2023: The Indian Express
The trailer of the much awaited Prabhas-starrer Adipurush finally came out this week, featuring Telugu actor Prabhas as Lord Rama, Kriti Sanon as Sita and Saif Ali Khan as Ravana. The film, directed by Om Raut (who previously helmed the National Award-winning Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior), is an adaptation of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, credited to Valmiki and considered one of the most important literary works of Hinduism.
Indian cinema, across industries, has shown a fascination with the Ramayana, with adaptations dating back to the very first films of the subcontinent, in the early twentieth century. Apart from straightforward adaptations, where little to nothing is changed from the source material, there have also been derivations where the epic has been reimagined in modern times and dealing with more contemporary themes.
More importantly, however, the story has become an indelible part of popular culture, with its characters and settings often becoming symbolic of a larger issue or theme. For example, if two people in a film are called ‘Ram’ and ‘Sita’, it will almost be obvious that they will get married and be the ‘ideal’ couple, with the woman having to prove her loyalty and chastity at one point.
We take a brief look at the enduring legacy of Ramayana.
Pre-Independence era
Dadasaheb Phalke, the ‘Father of Indian cinema’, chose the Ramayana as the theme for his second movie, 1917’s Lanka Dahan. The film is based on the Sundara Kanda chapter of the epic, which deals with the adventures of Hanuman, and his role in rescuing Sita from Ravana’s kingdom. The film is also notable for having the first ‘double role’ by an actor in Indian cinema, with Anna Salunke playing both Rama and Sita (women were not allowed to take part in commercial arts at the time).
In 1934, C Pullayya made the Telugu film Lava Kusa, which became the first major commercial success in Telugu cinema and paved the way for Hindu mythological films to thrive in the industry for decades to come. The film is also credited with pulling audiences to the theatres and ultimately building up a theatre-growing crowd amongst the Telugu-speaking population.
Another notable venture was Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya (1943), starring Prem Adib as Rama and Shobhna Samarth as Sita. It became the first Indian movie to have a premiere in the US, and was also notable for its title and its connection to the Indian independence movement— ‘Ram Rajya’ literally translates to ‘Reign of Rama’, a phrase Mahatma Gandhi often used to invoke democratic rule for India. Ram Rajya ended up becoming the only film Gandhi ever saw, since he was opposed to the cinematic medium on principle.
Bhatt made at least three other movies with Adib and Samarth playing Rama and Sita: a year before Ram Rajya, the three had worked on Bharat Milap (1942), and the collaboration would be reprised with Rambaan (1948) and Ramayan (1954). In fact, Adib and Samarth were so popular as the mythological characters that they were featured as Ram and Sita on calendars, according to Heidi R.M. Pauwels’ book Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting Classics.
N T Rama Rao, Telugu cinema’s mythological star
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, popularly known as NTR, played Hindu gods so many times in films that commentators over the years have credited these roles with bringing him an almost-unprecedented level of success in the political arena, and ultimately, making him one of the most popular Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh.
Although NTR was most famous for his roles as Lord Krishna, he played Rama in many significant films as well. In 1958, a year after he starred as Krishna in Mayabazaar (a role and film that remain popular to this day), he starred in the Tamil film Sampoorna Ramayanam where he played Rama and Tamil superstar Sivaji Ganesan played Bharatha. Padmini, one of the most popular actresses of the time, played Sita.
In 1963, he starred in Lava Kusa, a remake of the C Pullayya film. The new film was also directed by Pullayya, along with his son C S Rao. The film won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, and was the first full-length colour film to come out of the industry.
NTR would go on to direct, produce and star in Sri Rama Pattabhishekam (1978), a film where he played both Rama and Ravana, the protagonist and antagonist of Ramayana respectively.
His descendants too would go on to star in Ramayana adaptations. Nandamuri Balakrishna, NTR’s son, played Rama in Sri Rama Rajyam (2011), which was an adaptation of Lava Kusa (1963). Nayanthara played Sita in the film, while NTR’s contemporary Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR) played Valmiki. Earlier, in 1997, NTR’s grandson (son of his other son Nandamuri Harikrishna) Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr (who would later become famous as Jr NTR), starred as Rama in Ramayanam (1997) as a child actor. The film featured thousands of child actors, and won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film.
Foreign adaptations
One of the most popular adaptations of the Ramayana in the 21st century is the anime film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992). It was directed by Koichi Sasaki, Yugo Sako and Ram Mohan (known as ‘father of Indian animation’), and had music by celebrated musician Vanraj Bhatia. The film courted controversy from its initial stages, as its production coincided with the peak of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, and was even banned for some time. Later, a Hindi-dubbed version was aired on DD National, which eventually developed a cult following.
Another animated adaptation that created controversy was Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues (2008), which was a juxtaposition of Sita’s journey in the epic and the director’s own life experiences. Right-wing Hindu organisation Hindu Janajagruti Samiti said that the film “attempts to misrepresent the events and characters of Ramayana in the most derogatory manner through its explicit graphics, audio and dialogues,” and called for a complete ban on it. Protests were also staged at screenings of the movie in the US. Sita Sings the Blues would go on to win a number of awards.
Opera Jawa (2006) is an Indonesian-Austrian film based on the ‘Abduction of Sita’ chapter from the Ramayana. It is a musical, which features traditional Javanese classical music and dance in an opera setting. The married couple in the film used to act in plays depicting the epic, highlighting the cultural tradition of Ramayana in Indonesia.
One of the latest foreign adaptations of the Ramayana was Yak: The Giant King (2015), which retells the story of Hanuman from the Thai version of the epic called Ramakien. The film falls in the science fiction genre, and is a futuristic adaptation of the epic.
Ramayana adaptations in 21st century India
In 2001, the Rajkumar Santoshi directorial Lajja released, featuring the stories of four women in the oppressive patriarchal Indian society. All four had names which are versions of ‘Sita’: Vaidehi, Janki, Ramdulari and Maithili. This also predictably created controversy, with reports of BJP workers in Madhya Pradesh burning effigies of Santoshi and posters of Dixit for “objectionable dialogues” on Hindu gods in the film.
Veteran director Mani Ratnam made the Tamil-Hindi bilingual Ravaanan/Raavan in 2010. The films had slight variations in their casting, but otherwise followed the same story, of a police official in search of a tribal leader-turned-Naxalite who has kidnapped his wife. In this modernised Ramayana, there is also the added layer of the Sita character Raagini (played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in both versions) having Stockholm syndrome (a supposed psychological condition in which kidnapping victims develop bonds with their captors). Ratnam’s version is also notable for highlighting the perspective of the Ravana character.
