Coronavirus: Doordarshan to retelecast Ramayan after ‘public demand’ from Saturday

Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan and B.R. Chopra's TV show Mahabharata were one of eth most popular TV shows of the golden era of the 90s. When these TV shows used to air, people used to stay in their homes to watch them, the streets used to be deserted. People used to watch these shows by taking off their slippers and shoes. Not just this, but they also used to offer flowers and garlands on their television to seek blessings. These two shows, which have been gloriously written in the history of TV, could never be erased. Today, when the streets are deserted due to the coronavirus lockdown and people are forced to stay in their homes, the demand for these shows to be retelecasted on TV arose on social media.

Earlier, it was said that Prasar Bharti is in talks with the people to re-air the show and now, the decision is out. Fans will be able to see their favorite show Ramayan on TV twice a day. Union I&B minister Prakash Javdekar on Friday announced that the show will be back on the television From this Saturday, March 28th. He wrote, "Happy to announce that on public demand, we are starting the re-telecast of 'Ramayana' from tomorrow (Saturday, March 28) on 
@DDNational....One episode in the morning 9 am to 10 am.....Another in the evening 9 pm to 10 pm"

Fans have been flooding Twitter for a couple of days, demanding the return of Ramayan. "Dear @narendramodi ji @PrakashJavdekar ji Please consider asking DD, and advising other channels, to telecast Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and B R Chopra's Mahabharata daily. Perhaps two episodes a day each. They acted as magnets in quarantining people back then. They still can," a user tweeted. Others said that these mythological shows would help reduce stress at a time when normal life had become paralysed owing to the lockdown. Some suggested back-to-back telecast of the serials, to enable a binge-watching sort of mood.

It would definitely be a treat for a 90s kid to watch the show again on TV. For the unversed, Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan starred Arun Govil as Ram and Deepika Chikhalia as Sita, with Arvind Trivedi playing Raavan and Dara Singh essaying Hanuman. The series originally ran from 25 January 1987 to 31 July 1988.

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