Jayshree Gadkar and Bal Dhuri who play the role of Kaushalya and King Dasharath were a real-life couple and well known Marathi film actors. The production team would visit nearby villages and make announcements on drums to recruit junior artists. Originally meant to have only 52 episodes, the story ended in 78 episodes. Ramayan was the most expensive show during those days. The shooting cost of each episode came to 900,000 INR. The iconic scenes of the construction of the Ram Setu (a mythical bridge between India and Sri Lanka) were shot in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to shoot clear blue waters.

Many people actually prayed (Aarti) when the episodes aired.Ī set was built at Umargaon, a small town of Gujarat to shoot the show. People bought television sets to watch the show. The roads would be deserted when Ramayan was aired on television.

It was telecast in 55 countries with a total viewership of 650 million. It holds the Limca book of world record as the most-watched mythological serial. The serial was based on Valmiki’s Ramayan and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas. In the 80s, Ramayan was produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar and Mahabharat was produced by B R Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra.

Ramayan series follows the journey of an Indian king Rama who goes to an exile of 14 years along with wife Sita and brother Lakshman, while Mahabharata, another Indian epic, in its televised series covers the incidents revolving around Lord Krishna, Pandavas, Kauravas, Karna and Draupadi. Little did anyone know the reruns of Ramayana and Mahabharata will enjoy unprecedented popularity. The first episode of Mahabharat was aired on television on 2nd Oct 1988 and final episode on 24th June 1990.The first episode of Ramayan was aired on television on 25th Jan 1987 and serial was concluded in August 1988.Ramayan has become globally highest viewed entertainment show on its rerun.To keep people entertained during a complete lockdown, India's Information and Broadcasting Ministry decided to re-telecast popular mythology television serials - Ramayana and Mahabharata, which were a huge hit in the 80s.

Vikram aur betaal final episode