Coronavirus lockdown: 'Ramayan' gets thumbs up from the younger generation as well
A scene from the popular show 'Ramayana'
Amidst a pandemic and the largest lockdown in history, the eighties' cult series; the 'Ramayan'is back on Doordarshan.
From trending on Twitter to massive viewership rewards for the state broadcaster, the good old 'Ramayan' is the new household rage in India.
With the show's re-run receiving a thumbs up from the younger generation too, the Sunday morning soap opera of the Gods is back
After hooking Indian audience in the eighties, the Ramayan'sre-run is now dopamine to life in lockdown with zero avenues to outdoor entertainment.
Unaffected by the cliched idealism, Twitter is testimony to the soaring adulation of 'Ramayan'. A case in point was the killing of Meghnath recently aired on the series. Ramayan's mighty Lankan warrior aka Indrajit is Ravana's son.
A grey character who falls prey to his uncle Vibhishan's betrayal, and is eventually killedby Laxmana. Soon after, Twitter went into a tizzy, lauding Meghnath's valour
Before Meghnath was put to the sword, a meme on Lord Hanumana also went viral.
The return of Ramanand Sagar's legendary series even sparked the feminism debate on Twitter. While some users felt 'Ramayan'was unfair to its female characters, especially Sita, others felt the storyline champions women's empowerment.
Some slammed queen Kaikeyi and her maid Manthara, some have empathised with the sacrifice of Lakshmana's wife Urmila.
The golden days of Doordarshan were relived when memes on Lakshman became another hot favourite, so did his advice to Sita demarcating the ''Lakshman Rekha'', which for the Twitterati translated to the lockdown motto of stay home.
The show has garnered 51 million viewers in the first weekend of the telecast, the highest ever figure across the Hindi entertainment genre since 2015.
Various government machinery publicised the re telecast of the show in a big way- thereby catching the attention of many.
BARC's chief executive Sunil Lulla called Prasar Bharti's move as 'brilliant' and admitted the numbers garnered by the show was surprising.
(With inputs from agencies)