For 78 weeks between 1987 and 1988, India, courtesy Doordarshan, was hooked on a heavenly opiate: the Sunday morning serialisation of the H...
For 78 weeks between 1987 and 1988, India, courtesy Doordarshan, was hooked on a heavenly opiate: the Sunday morning serialisation of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Variously termed, the ‘religious serial’, the ‘soap opera of the gods’ and so on, the television drama, had notched up a mind-boggling viewership of 85 per cent. Examples of its popularity were Legion: brides refusing to participate in wedding rites till the end of the episode; ministers turning up late for their own swearing-in ceremony; an entire train kept waiting while the driver and its passengers caught up with the latest instalment.
Familiarity rather than novelty appeared to be the key to its success. Rama, the hero of the serial and an avatar of the god Vishnu, was probably the best-known deity in the Hindu pantheon. Dussehra, the day he triumphed over his adversary Ravana, and Diwali, the occasion of his return home after a long absence are widely celebrated Indian festivals.
The story of Rama: the dutiful son who left his kingdom, Ayodhya, to fulfil a promise made by his father; of Rama the powerful warrior who battled with the mighty Ravana to retrieve his wife Sita; of Rama the noble king who put his people before...
