Ramayana – Religious themes hit small TV screen
It is a distinct feature of our country to take things to hearts rather easily and we usually tend to the superlatives of appreciation or denunciation even at the slightest opportunity. Never earlier had we heard of a TV serial leading to the burning down of a power station, or postponement of marriages, funerals and even ministerial engagements. But all this happened, and quite frequently, during the run of Ramayana.
Commercially, ‘Ramayana’ proved to be a trendsetter. Coffers filled much faster than one could say ‘Shri Ram’ . Mandi House and the Sagars could not have hit upon a mint churning money faster. According to sources Doordarshan earned a staggering 10% of it’s entire week’s revenue only by telecasting the 50 odd commercials preceding ‘Ramayana’. The Sagars went laughing all the way to the bank both on account of the millions earned by the way to selling the serial to its sponsors and also by marketing the ‘Ramayana’ video cassettes.
In the entire length of 78 episodes of ‘Ramayana’, there were no references to any particular religion or sect as superior or inferior. Indeed, the script is not the heritage of one particular class of people; it is a national heritage and an understanding example of our culture and values. All it tells is the way one ought to lead the life; what kind of a relationship must one share with different members of the family and society. It only spreads the massage of love, compassion and sacrifice tireless pillars of any civilization, guided by any religion. That the exactly what Tulsidas described may have changed, but the guiding principles and values of human life shall stay the same.
What was definitely a deplorable act was the indulgence of Arun Govil, not into his personal capacity but in the way of Tele Rama. What is disturbing is the trend of politicians to play with such basic instincts for their objective of polling votes. It is accepted that politics and religion are like two faces of a coin; but the involvement of one in another may lead to catastrophic consequences, an example of which is the Punjab problem.
The exit tune of ‘Ramayana’ may well coincide with the entry of ‘Mahabharata’ another block buster based on an epic being produced by BR Chopra.