Hindi Serial - The new Ramayana on NDTV Imagine - Last episode on June 26th, 2009

A long time back (1987-1988), Ramanand Sagar (from Sagar Entertainment) had made a serial based on the Ramayana, and it was extremely popular. In 2008, on NDTV Imagine, Sagar Entertainment again created a new Ramayana, using new effects, with a new sophistication, and with new actors. It has also proved very popular. The series went through the entire timeline from the initial years of Ram's life, his marriage to Sita, exile based on his father's promise, Sita's abduction by Ravan, the search, the bitter battle, return to Ayodhya, Sita's banishment from the court and settlement in the ashram, Luv and Kush's story, and final return to the court.



The serial had a lot of new effects, with the one that I really liked being the one where when Ram fires the arrow which kills an enemy, there is a small light that comes from the skies and settles on the arrow. The serial had some great performances, with Gurmeet Choudhary playing the role of Lord Ram with great skill. Some of the lead characters:
Gurmeet Choudhary as Lord Ram
Debina Banerjee as Mata Sita
Ankit Arora as Lakshman
Vikram Sharma as Lord Hanuman
Akhilendra Mishra as Demon King Ravana
Punkaj Kalraa as King Dashrath
Vijay Bhatia as Bharat
Lalit Negi as Shatrughna
Rajni Chandra as Kaushalya
Jaya Ojha as Mandodari
Kavita as Kaikeyi

The serial has got the Most Promising New Show of the Year award at theIndiantelevision.com's New Talent Awards held this year. Gurmeet Choudhary who plays the lead role of Lord Rama also won the Most Promising New Talent of Tomorrow award. The serial had some of the previous staff as well, with Ravindra Jain, who was the music director for the original series, returns as music director for this series, with Kavita Krishnamurthy and Suresh Wadkar as playback singers. It is directed by Anand Sagar, son of Ramanand Sagar.

Title track of the serial on Youtube:



Scene of Sita's swayamwara and the breaking of Shiva Dhanush