May 30, 2026 11:04am IST
Arun Govil on Playing King Dashrath in Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Ramayana’: ‘They Wanted a Connection Between Our ‘Ramayan’ and This ‘Ramayana’’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Arun Govil is best known for portraying Lord Rama in the TV series "Ramayan." The epic mythological directed by Ramanand Sagar first premiered in 1987 on Indian Television. The series was loved by audiences across the country. Originally planned for 52 episodes, its immense popularity prompted the creators to extend the series twice. For Indian audiences, there is no bigger character than Lord Rama, and Govil was stuck with the image of playing Lord Rama forever. He could not move out from under the halo of the character, as makers refused to see him in any other role, and audiences didn't want to either. He also reprised his role as Lord Rama (voice acting) in the 1993 animated film, "Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama."
Nitesh Tiwari's "Ramayana" is releasing this Diwali, and this time Govil is playing the role of Ram's father, King Dashrath. Here he talks about playing God and more.
‘Ramayana’ is coming to the big screen this Diwali. Having played the iconic character, how would you define the importance of Lord Rama to today's generations?
Lord Rama and "Ramayan" were always relevant, and are still relevant because they tell us how we should live our social life, family life and conduct ourselves as a king or statesman. As far as culture is concerned, it is a good thing that youngsters today want to know what our culture and religion are. There are other aggressive voices rising in the name of religion. Such groups need to know about our heritage. It is a good thing that Hindutva has been revived. And this revival has happened because of our "Ramayan."
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A lot of actors have played Lord Rama. But none could even come close to the impact you had.
I wouldn't want to go there. There should be no comparison. I wouldn’t want any comparison. Every actor is different, and every actor makes the character his own in some way.
You immortalized the role in the minds of the public.
Even today, people see me as Lord Rama. They even call me Ramji. They don't call me Arun Govil. Even today, in my constituency (he is a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing the Meerut constituency), all the people address me as Ramji. And they also come with the thought: ‘You are Ramji, you tell us what to do.’ Even in the political field, whoever I meet, they believe, ‘We have come to you, now our work will get done.’
Isn't that a huge responsibility?
It is a huge responsibility, which I have been carrying very happily. Basically, I am a very compassionate person. I believe that if someone has come to me believing that his troubles will be over. And by meeting me, they get solace, then why not?
In a way, your political responsibility is an extension of what you did as Lord Rama. Would you agree with that?
Absolutely, absolutely. And I am doing it very honestly. I mean, whatever I do, there is a lot of ideological honesty. If one doesn’t have honesty, people see through that. The public is very smart; they know and understand everything.
Do you live your life according to the dictates of the Ramayana?
No, it's nothing like that. I was always a Rama bhakt. Initially, it was in my consciousness. Decent living becomes a way of life. You don't have to make any effort. I was always like this only. Of course, after doing ‘Ramayan,’ I perhaps became more inclined towards the dictates of the Ramayana. But the roots were always in me.
Now Lord Rama will be essayed by Ranbir Kapoor...
As Rama, I won't be able to tell you anything about him, but he is a good actor, there is no doubt about that. He is also a fine human being. As I said earlier, every actor pursues every character in their own way. And he must have played Lord Rama in his own unique way.
But there was a lot of criticism of his look as Lord Rama.
That perhaps is also because my performance as Lord Rama became the touchstone. It is still alive in the hearts and minds of people. Nobody wants to see another Rama. You know, my ‘Ramayan’ keeps playing somewhere or the other at any given time. Even today in North and Central India, whenever there are melas and tamashas and photos of Rama are sold, they have my face on them. So, for me, to talk about an actor's performance as Lord Rama doesn’t feel right.
You have lived a life without any duality, after playing Ram. The public image of any actor today impinges on their ambitions to play God.
I don't feel it's right for me to comment on this. It will become a controversy, which I don't want. I just want to say that Ranbir is a good actor and a good person and he must have processed the role in his own way.
Tell me about returning to ‘Ramayana,’ but not as Rama this time
Yes, in "Ramayana", I'm playing King Dashrath, Lord Rama's father. Had I felt it wasn't right, I would not have done it. To be honest, initially, I didn't want to do this role. But Nitesh Tiwari, the director, was insistent. They wanted some connect between our "Ramayan" and this "Ramayana."
Interestingly, you have also played Lakshman in the past?
In the film "Lav Kush," where Jeetendra played Rama, they wanted as Lakshman. I had told the producer it's not right, don't make me play the character of Lakshman, but they did not listen. They wanted me. I said, ‘Okay, let's do it.’ But then, look what happened. The film didn't even run for one day. Nobody knows about that film.
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