Published 21:13 IST, April 19th 2020
Viewers claim Doordarshan cutting out scenes from 'Ramayan'; Prasar Bharati CEO clarifies
"The beauty of our epics are the many stories, side-stories and interpretations. Not every nuance can possibly make it into a single television script: CEO
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Getting back classic programmes like Ramayan to keep locked down people entertained has catapulted Doordarshan (DD) to be the most-watched channel in India recently. After Saturday's episode went on air, many viewers observed that an important scene was missing — Ravan's brother Ahiravan — was not telecasted.
A user asked CEO Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar, "@shashidigital Sir why important events like Ahiravan and Diksha by Ravan to Laxman cut down.... feel disappointed" [sic] To this, Shekhar clarified and said, "There have been no cuts, they were not part of the original production."
Even after the clarification released, many fans still complained about cutting out the scenes. One fan wrote, "There are many scenes in Ramayan which were edited like during setu nirmaan there was a squirrel, that was also edited. Why?" [sic] In response to the tweets, Prasar Bharati CEO wrote that epic stories have a larger narrative and it wasn't possible for every single interpretation to make it to the script.
No there are many cuts in last sections, like Bharat kaikeyi milan, ahiravan vadh, preparation of crown ceremony, welcoming of Ram's freinds by residents of Ayodhya...these all are cuts by DD and these are actually belongs to Ramanand sagar Ramayan.
— Rajesh kumar (@rajesh_rksingh) April 19, 2020
In yet another tweet, Shashi Shekhar said, "The beauty of our epics are the many stories, side-stories and interpretations. Not every nuance can possibly make it into a single television script but perhaps leaves the door open for future productions." [sic]
Shashi Shekhar who has been active on his Twitter handle with Ramayan updates replied to a fan who asked if the episodes will be available on YouTube. To this, Shekhar wrote that they will explore this for the future. Read his full reply below —
Any plans of putting all those episodes on Youtube or on your website?
— Success Ladders - Author Coaching (@thejendra) April 19, 2020
Please note Doordarshan was given limited rights by the Rights Holders and media was aired in an as provided condition on a war footing despite the constraints of lockdown and without the luxury of timely previews etc . We will definitely explore for the future. https://t.co/JlrV8j9iTX
— Shashi Shekhar (@shashidigital) April 19, 2020
"Ramayan", which began its telecast in 1987, made household names out of its two stars Arun Govil and Deepika Chikhalia.
21:13 IST, April 19th 2020