After playing the role of Lord Ram in the popular TV serial ‘Ramayana’, Arun Govil became famous as Ram. His identity of Ram is such that even today, people are seen worshipping him. There was a time when people considered him as Lord Ram and touched his feet. People who have lived the days of this serial can tell that when the show ‘Ramayana’ was telecast on TV, the streets used to be deserted. It was as if a curfew had been imposed.
But do you know that Ramanand Sahar had refused to make Arun ‘Ram’ in the first place?
Govil told a funny anecdote about his casting in Ramayana on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, where he revealed how he got a chance to play this legendary character. “When I came to know that Ramanand Sagar is making Ramayana, I reached out to him asking for a role. I told him that I want to play Ram. He looked at me and said that okay, we’ll see when the time comes. When the auditions for the serial started, I was also called, but the team of the show did not like my audition and I was rejected,” he said during the show.
After getting rejected, Govil was was very disappointed. However, he got a call from Ramanand Sagar one day and who called him for a meeting. Arun says that “when I reached to meet him, he said that we can’t find a Ram like you”. What happened next is history.
It is believed that when Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, the people of Ayodhya welcomed him by lighting lamps. Since then, every year, this festival of lights is celebrated with grandeur. People’s faith in Lord Shri Ram is such that people also look at Arun Govil with reverence. Arun worked in many shows even after this but he did not get the fame as he did from Ram of ‘Ramayana’ again.