The director himself was as dashing as a hero; Image source: Telegraph India

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Ramanand Sagar was born in the town of Asal Guru, which is located near Lahore. His great-grandfather moved to Kashmir from Lahore many decades back. Sagar's true name was Chandramouli Chopra, but he was renamed Ramanand Sagar after being adopted by his maternal grandmother. His family was regarded as one of Lahore's wealthiest families.

But when the partition happened, Ramanand Sagar's family had to leave their accumulated business and all the property and come to Kashmir. From here began the troubled days of Ramanand Sagar's family. He barely had money left for studies and started facing difficulty in getting an education. He took up several odd jobs as a peon, a truck cleaner, selling soap and also, a goldsmith. He used to do all this work during the day and studied at night.

> Despite such hardships and dividing his time between work and study, he was a Gold medalist in his studies. He always had an interest in storytelling a wrote several short stories, novels, poems, plays, etc. He was also the editor of the Daily Milap newspaper.
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Fueled by a desire to create stories, He began his cinematic career as a clapper in the silent picture Raiders of the Railroad in 1932. In the 40s he joined the Prithvi Theatres as a stage manager and even directed a few plays under the guidance of Prithvi Raj Kapoor. He directed several films and most popularly wrote the story and screenplay for Raj Kapoor’s superhit film *Barsaat.*

For his spy thriller *Ankhen*, starring Dharmendra and Mala Sinha, he received the Filmfare Best Director Award. It was one of the top ten Hindi films of the year in 1968. He directed movies like  *Charas, Prem Bandhan, Bhagavat, Ghunghat* and *Arzoo* all of which were blockbuster hits and he won several accolades and awards for his direction and writing, however, the world was yet to witness his magnum opus.

After almost spending four decades in the film industry, Sagar shifted his focus towards Television. TV in the 80s in India had become quite popular and Sagar decided to use this medium to tell Indian stories. He turned several Indian legends and folktales into TV shows, notable among them are  *Vikram Betaal*, *Sai Baba*, *Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniyaan, Alif Laila etc*

> However, his magnum opus, was *Ramayana*, a show based on the legend of Lord Rama. The show was made after deep research. It was primarily based on Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas and Valmiki's Ramayan. However other sources like  *Kamban Ramayan, Bhavarath Ramayan, B Krutivas Ramayan, Shri Rangnath Ramayan,  Ramchandra Charit Puranam, Adhyatma Ramayan*, were also used.
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The show was initially conceptualized as a 52 episode series of 45 minutes each, but due to popular demand had to be extended thrice. The sensitivity and sincerity with which Sagar had directed it added to its brilliance. Everything from the costumes, sets, music to casting actors, was done with great care.

On the set with "Rama" and "Sita"; Image source: Amar Ujala

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The simplicity and ease with which he told the story of Ramayana, made the show immensely popular. The show had the highest viewership of an Indian television series. People would sit in absolute silence and watch in awe of this brilliant tale.

It had a huge cultural impact too. The series was re-aired to bolster people's morale during the 2020 Coronavirus Lockdown. Famous actor Ashok Kumar narrated the show along with Ramanand Sagar himself. Ramanand Sagar was an outstanding filmmaker, and his *Ramayan* would forever remain a classic of Indian television. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2005.

India is famous for its storytellers, but there was one who took our stories and popularised them in every house. Someone who made a show so brilliant, people would leave their work and sit and watch it for 45 minutes in complete silence, hypnotised by the brilliant storytelling and direction.