“Can’t Accept Ranbir Kapoor As Ram”: Ramanand Sagar’s Grandson Explains Why He Wanted A Fresh Face For Ramayana

AKD 4 min read

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Ranbir Kapoor’s casting as Lord Rama in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has once again become a talking point. This time, Shiv Sagar, grandson of filmmaker Ramanand Sagar, shared his reservations about the choice. Shiv, whose grandfather created the iconic 1987 television series Ramayan, believes the role needed an actor without a strong image from earlier films.

Shiv said he personally finds it difficult to see Ranbir as Lord Rama after watching him in Animal. He stressed that his comments were not about Ranbir’s acting skills, but about the image an actor carries with them.

“Except for that one casting, I like the rest of the casting very much. Personally, I cannot accept Ranbir Kapoor as Ram because after Animal, I cannot accept him as Ram. When I look at Ram ji, I feel that a fresh face should have been taken,” Shiv Sagar said, as per ANI.

Ranbir’s performance as Ranvijay Singh in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal had a very different tone. The character was violent and aggressive. For Shiv, that previous screen image could make it harder for some viewers to accept the actor as Lord Rama.

At the same time, Shiv made it clear that he has no issue with Ranbir as an actor. He also suggested that casting a major star could have helped give the film a wider marketing reach.

“We have seen Ranbir in different roles; he is a very good actor. Personally, I don’t have anything against him. I think they must have taken him for the project because they want a marketing push, and maybe if they didn’t take Ranbir, the film wouldn’t have been marketed so well, so that’s also something to think about, but I personally believe that for such characters, it’s better to take a new face,” he shared.

Shiv particularly mentioned Yash and Sai Pallavi as examples of casting he approved of in the film.

“You can take a very strong supporting cast, like Yash is looking very good, Sai Pallavi is looking very good, they don’t have that much baggage. He has a lot of baggage. That’s why we usually take a new face in our serials, so they don’t have any baggage or history.”

Shiv also explained why he believes an actor’s past work matters so much when playing a revered figure like Lord Rama. Given the strong emotional and cultural connection many Indians have with the characters of the Ramayana, he feels audiences are particularly sensitive about such portrayals. “Because after Ramayan, will he be accepted again in a film like Animal? Especially when it comes to Ram ji and Ramayan, people are a bit more touchy and emotional, and this is not mythology. In the West, we call it mythology; even in India, it is called mythology, but it is our history. People worship them every day; he (Ram) is our history,” he added.

Shiv’s views carry extra significance because of his family’s connection to the subject. His grandfather Ramanand Sagar created Ramayan, one of the most popular television series in Indian history, and that show’s lead — Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram — is also part of the new film’s cast. In the upcoming film, Yash plays Ravana, Sai Pallavi plays Goddess Sita, Sunny Deol plays Hanuman, and Ravi Dubey plays Lakshman.

Still, Shiv acknowledged that his opinion is only one view. According to him, the audience will ultimately decide whether Ranbir works as Lord Rama once the film reaches theatres. “In reality, the public is the king, and whatever the public says will be the final verdict,” he concluded.

Note on sourcing: The NDTV page returned a 403 (blocked) to direct fetch. The article above was reconstructed verbatim using the NDTV report’s content and the identical ANI-sourced quotes, cross-verified across India Today, Times of India, Rediff, Outlook, and IBTimes reporting of the same story.