‘To play a God, you’ve to have a good, pure soul.’
Key Points
- Ramayana has Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram, Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Goddess Sita, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lord Lakshman.
- Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s 1987 television serial Ramayan, plays King Dasharatha, Lord Ram’s father, in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana.
- The first part is slated to release worldwide in IMAX during Diwali 2026, with part two following in Diwali 2027.
Arun Govil, known for his iconic portrayal of Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s 1987 television serial Ramayan, has praised the upcoming cinematic adaptation of the epic and endorsed its lead Ranbir Kapoor, saying that only a “good actor and a good human being” can convincingly play god on screen.
Billed as an ambitious cinematic event, the film features KGF star Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Goddess Sita, Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman and Ravie Dubey as Lord Lakshman. It is directed by Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal fame.
“The Ramayana by Nitesh Tiwari looks very good. It has been made with a lot of hard work by Nitesh Tiwari, the actors and the entire team. The main actor Ranbir Kapoor is looking very good as Lord Ram. He is a good actor and good human being.”
“To play a God, you’ve to have a good, pure soul, and you have to be a good human being also,” Govil, who is playing the role of King Dasharatha, Lord Ram’s father, in Ramayana, told PTI.
The actor, best known for his portrayal of Lord Ram in the 1987 television epic, noted that comparisons between different adaptations were inevitable due to the lasting influence of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan.
The iconic series starred Deepika Chikhalia as Sita, Sunil Lahri as Laxman and Dara Singh as Hanuman.
“Comparisons are always made when a standard is set and no one should feel bad that I’m being compared. I believe that in order to play the role of God, you should look like that. The look is very important. When people see you, they should see God in you, and think, ‘God can be like that’,” Govil added.
That said, the 68-year-old dismissed any attempts to draw parallel between the upcoming Ramayana and the 2022 film Adipurush — starring Prabhas and criticised for its portrayal of iconic characters and visual effects — by describing them as two fundamentally different projects.
“There is a lot of difference between Ramayana and Adipurush,” he added.
Govil said he had a “good” experience working with the whole team. “I finished work on the film long back. The experiences from that film, and with that unit are good for me,” he said.
Ramayana is produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios and DNEG, in association with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations. The film is a two-part live-action saga set 5,000 years ago and rooted in one of Hinduism’s most enduring epics.
The first part is slated to release worldwide in IMAX during Diwali 2026, with part two following in Diwali 2027.