Television is a medium that connects the widest range of audiences. The Hindi television industry is one of the biggest sources of entertainment, however, the audience expects the actors to be the perfect embodiment of the characters that they portray.
During the lockdown, actors of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan shot back to fame after nearly four decades. Moreover, things did not work in their favour. ALSO READ | Ramayan: Sunil Lahri AKA Lakshman Reacts To Arun Govil AKA Ram’s ‘No Award’ Comment; ‘One Can Satisfy Their Ego When Felicitated’
The mythological series had a re-run on television and the audiences of this age connected to The OG of Hindi Television, Arun Govil. In several interviews, Govil had revealed how people used to worship him and actually believed that he is an avatar of Lord Ram.
During one such interaction, Govil revealed how he had to bring a major change in his lifestyle after a fan was disappointed in him that he started abusing Govil on sets.
In one of the episodes of The Kapil Sharma Show, Arun Govil recalled an interesting anecdote from his life. He narrated, “I was working in a Tamil film and the shooting was also in the South. I was playing Lord Balaji in the film and was working with Bhanumati. I had recently developed a habit of smoking. And during the shoot, I had the urge to smoke.”
He further added, “So, I searched for a lonely corner, hid behind a curtain, and lit a cigarette. A gentleman passed by and started saying something in Tamil and looked disgusted. All I could make out was, he abused me.”
Later when Arun Govil asked someone to translate what the man said and he was told that the man was upset and said, “We consider you God and you are sitting here smoking cigarettes.” ALSO READ | #AwardForRamayan Trends After Ramayan’s Ram Arun Govil Writes Hurtful Post About NOT Receiving A Single Award From The Govt
This left a powerful impact on Govil and it hit him so hard that he never smoked cigarettes in his life ever since. The actor made his film debut in 1977 with Rajshri Productions’ Paheli but got acclaim as Birju from Sawan Ko Aane Do which was released in 1979, also by Rajshri Productions. He gained stardom by playing Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s mythological series which aired on Doordarshan in 80s.
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