When Dara Singh Refused To Play Hanuman In Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan Due To His Age

While several performers have taken on the role of Lord Hanuman, none have had the same lasting impact as Dara Singh in Ramanand Sagar's classic television series Ramayan. Vindu, the son of Dara Singh, recently revealed that his father was hesitant to play Hanuman on-screen. The actor was worried that the audience would find his representation humorous and that he might be too elderly for the role. 

Dara Singh was worried about playing Hanuman

In a conversation with Siddharth Kanan, Vindu recalled an interesting anecdote about his father Dara Singh’s participation in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. The actor said, “Ramanand Sagar had decided that he wanted to take my father in the role of Hanuman. He had locked Arun Govil for the role of Lakshman. So, my father told me that we have to say no to this role. He said, ‘I can’t do this role in this age because people will laugh.'”

However, Ramanand Sagar persisted and eventually got Dara Singh to appear in his TV show. “He told my father that you can’t ignore God’s order. He explained that he had already signed the whole cast but he got a dream in which he saw Arun Govil in the role of Lord Ram, Dipika Chikhlia in the role of Sita and my father in the role of Lord Hanuman. He said, ‘Now this is God’s order.'”

Prem Sagar, the son of Ramanand Sagar, also praised Dara Singh for the extraordinary efforts the actor put into his character and sat through a makeup process lasting three to four hours every day of the shoot. In the absence of modern prosthetics, meticulous attention was given to matching the appearance with the Hanumanji, tail included. Singh's dedication even had him restricted from eating for nearly nine hours due to the constraints of his makeup.

Ramayan returned to Doordarshan post Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha

Arguably one of the most classic and evergreen on-screen manifestations of the mythological epic Ramayan, the show had first premiered on television back in 1987. The series recently made a comeback on Doordarshan after the much-celebrated Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony took place in Ayodhya on January 22.