After being banned in the early 90s to premiere in theatres by the Indian Government, Ramayana: The Legend Of Prince Rama found its audience on TV. The audience then are the now 90s kids (we are 30-year-olds but kids at heart), including me.
The movie took us by storm, it was the first time after Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan that we would witness the greatness of Bhagwan Shri Ram, my dear friend Hanuman and the wickedness of Shri Ravan as kids. It planted a dream in all of us that Indian epics such as Ramayan and Mahabharat if made in anime form would cross geographical and cultural boundaries.
This article, however, isn’t about the greatness of either of these epics but about the re-release of the Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Ram movie in Indian theatres on 24th January 2024. The movie has a special place in the hearts of every 90s and upcoming generations. So when the re-release was announced all of us were excited to witness it in 4k remastered on a huge screen.
The Tale Of 90s Kid’s POV of the remastered Ramayana: The Legend Of Prince Rama
The excitement for this movie was muffled when the trailer of this movie was launched and I heard the new dubbing of the movie. The dubbing artists did pour their hearts into their respective roles however the child in me was not satisfied due to the imprint of the voices of Shri Arun Govil as Bhagwan Ram, narration by Shri Shatrughna Sinha and of course the legendary performance by Shri Amrish Puri as Lankesh Ravan.
In the 30+ years that I have lived on this planet life has taught me one thing is that never judge a book by its cover. So I went to the movie the first day albeit to my dismay, not the first show. The movie begins with the narration of Sinha being replaced by Dishi Duggal who does a good job though pales in comparison to the great actor’s dialogue delivery.
Still excited about the movie I continued watching ignoring the biggest blunder in the movie which I will tell you ahead, right now, let’s focus on the voice acting. Yudhvir Dahiya who plays Bhagwan Ram found the essence of the character, however, his performance lacked the humility and nuance in his voice that Govil had mastered through his performance as Bhagwan Ram in the live-action TV series Ramayan. However, it makes sense since understanding Bhagwan Ram is very complex and Govil had years to get into the character whereas Dahiya had only a couple of months.
The same issue can be seen with Upalaksh Kocchar who plays Lakshman. However, the dynamic between the two voice actors who play brothers feels naturally amazing and balanced. Sonal Kaushal, famous as The Motor Mouth, plays Devi Sita very well although the screen time for her character is very little in the movie.
Talking about the big bad guy, Ravan, Rajesh Jolly who plays the character came very close to making the character as epic as the OG villain of Hindi cinema, Amrish Puri. His dialogue delivery and pronunciation of Hindi words were better than his co-actors and he understood where to go subtle in the delivery and where to show aggression. Despite all the positives, even his performance falls short in comparison to his predecessor.
Moving on from voice acting, the movie also feels like it has cut several scenes from the beginning and middle. This could be due to me remembering the movie in a certain way and it is possible that it was always like that. Unfortunately, there is no way to cross-check it now since the old version which was available on YouTube is nowhere to be found. If our readers find the old version, do share it with us.
Additionally, in the movie when we see the insides of Ravan’s palace the background music gives a hint of Arabic touch to it which the original version as far as I remember did not have. There is nothing wrong with Arabic music except given the timeframe of this movie it doesn’t fit into the context of it. Furthermore, there are several key scenes where the BGM is changed especially the one scene where Prabhu Shri Ram enlightens his brother Lakshman and other Vanaras about being a good person over a good warrior.
The movie also changed the Hindi songs to the original Sanskrit songs which were there in the original English dub. This, although a great move miffed many fans as they were there to vibe and sing the songs as they played on screen. The Hindi songs of this movie are still on the playlists of many including me.
Now the biggest blunder this movie had to offer came as something that even the first-time watchers of this movie will be enraged by are the Hindi subtitles. They looked like this:
After reading the subtitles, it revived the Grammar Nazi in many of us. A simple proofreading by a real Hindi expert could have saved them from this humongous mistake. It is like they used some stupid AI technology to create the Hindi subtitles.
Furthermore, the dialogue of the movie had some words of Hindustani (a mix of Hindi and Urdu), which could have been avoided by using their simple Sanskrit counterparts which would have further enhanced the feel of it given the context and timeframe of the movie. I understand that it might be a conscious choice to make the movie more understandable to the young audience.
The entire article until now was from the perspective of a veteran anime watcher, a 90s kid who has grown up watching this movie several times since childhood and a person who can read Devnagri script very well. However, there are some positive aspects of this film as well. It comes from the perspective of a first-time watcher.
The Tale Of Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama from the POV of a 5-Year-Old Little Girl
In the theatre in which I watched the movie, a little girl was sitting beside me with her elder sister. The young one, as all young ones are, was curious about the characters, and the story and was excited to see her favourite Hanuman on a big screen. She eagerly kept asking her sister throughout the first half when Hanuman would appear on screen and was seemingly filled with joy when He came on screen.
The innocent smile on her face, when Hanuman destroyed Simhika and burnt down Lanka, could brighten up anyone. She would also get scared by the sight of Ravan and his uncle Marich and other demons and take cover in her sister’s lap.
However, every time Bhagwan Ram killed them on screen she would simply ask to be kept in her seat. This continued for a couple of times. This may have been a task for the elder sister but from what I noticed the comfort she received when Bhagwan Ram and Hanuman vanquished evil made her feel safe and further strengthened her belief.
The expressions on her face displayed her trust in Hanuman and a feeling of relief when He returns with Dronagiri to save Lakshman. Though I could only see her expressions as she was sitting beside me, she was not the only one who felt that way. The theatre was filled with many toddlers who shared her feelings.
There were young boys in the theatre who felt anger when Ravan kidnapped Maa Sita and expressed it by screaming and they were overjoyed every time Shri Ram and other major Vanara such as Sugriva and Neel joined the battle. The victory scream by the boys when Shri Ram’s chakra takes down Ravan at the end would normally disturb a movie goer but even the elders in the theatre shared their feelings albeit they were moulded by society and life to control their emotions under the pretence of being civilised.
Conclusion
As a 90s kid, this movie left me longing for the old version however after seeing its impact on the next generation I can overlook the nitty gritty details and just simply enjoy it. When they grow older and reach our age they too will look back at this movie as a core memory and it will remind them of their culture. A culture spanning thousands of years crossing geographical and cultural boundaries and embracing those alien to it without sending a single soldier across.
This next generation will show this movie to the next generations and this cycle may continue. Unless someone like Mr. Yugo Sako picks up the Valmiki Ramayan and gets inspired by it to make an even better version of this legendary movie. As an Indian, I would want it to be an Indian to do it, however, looking at the impact Mr Sako has left on us over the last quarter century, I would gladly welcome someone from outside the culture who understands the epic to take the helm.
