An evening of cinema dipped in positivity of Ramayana, filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra, turned the hall of Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi into almost a replica of Ayodhya with a grand stage looking like a palace, Awadhi, Rajputa, Marwari cuisines for the grand trailer launch of their upcoming film Ramayana. The entire cast, including Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi spoke about the journey of this film from inception to now approaching release.
An interesting moment shared on stage was when actor-politician Arun Govil, famous for playing Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana, stood next to Ranbir, who plays the character in the upcoming film. As nostalgia and excitement took over the audience seeing them together, Ranbir assured Arun that he will take the baton of his legacy ahead with the film.
Also Read | Exclusive| Rishab Rikhiram Sharma to make his Bollywood music debut with Ranbir Kapoor’s Ramayana trailer title track
Ranbir said, “Aapne yeh zimmedari saalon se itni khubsoorati, sachayi aur dignity se pesh kiya hai. Aapka yeh safar mere jaise actors, sirf mere hi nahi, uss har insaan jisne Ramanand Sagar ki Ramayan dekhi hai. Aapne unko bharosa aur Prerna di hai. Jaise aapne Bhagwan Shri Ram ko apne andar utara hai, agar main itna bhi kar pau toh mere liye mehnat safal aur rang layegi. Bachpan se sir Bhagwan Shri Ram ka aashirwad aur unki seekh aur aapka chehra dil mein rakhkar bada hua hoon. We love you like you are our own.”
In a first, Arun revealed that he will be part of the film and this time as Ram’s father King Dashrath. This announcement was met with a thunderous applause from the crowd. One of the most interesting moments of the film was when Sunny Deol, who plays Lord Hanuman and Yash, who plays Ravana were invited on stage. The appearance of both the actors were kept as a surprise for the audience and joined the cast towards the end.
Sunny, in his speech, thanked the makers for giving him the chance to play Hanuman and shared that he has shot for only a small portion so far. “Main abhi thoda sa hi kaam shuru kia hai. Abhi bohot aage jana hai. Ramayan hum Hindustaniyo ke liye sabse badi cheez hai aur main Waheguru ji ka shukriya karta hun ki mujhe mauka mila Hanuman ji ke kirdar ko nibhane ka. Hanuman ji ka character nibhana asaan nahi hai par maza bohot aayega kyunki wo natkhat hai, innocent hai, Taqatwar hai aur hum sabke pyaare hai aur Ram ji ke bhakt hai,”
The evening also saw a performance by sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, who announced that he would be making his Bollywood debut with this film’s music. The guest list included Karan Johar, Saina Nehwal, Apoorve Mehta, Ramdev Baba amongst others.