Shrimad Ramayan

Shrimad Ramayan is an  Indian Hindi-language mythological television series that premiered on 1 January 2024 on Sony Entertainment Television. Produced by Siddharth Kumar Tewary under the banner of Swastik Productions, the series is based on the epic Ramayana. It stars Sujay Reu as Rama and Prachi Bansal as Sita.

Plot
The series showcases the life of Rama, the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It shows how he dealt with hardships in his life and how his life became an inspiration. It also showcases the whole ordeal and journey he went through to free his beloved wife, Sita (Incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi), from the rakshasa king Ravana, who abducted her.

Main

 * Sujay Reu as Rama / Lord Vishnu - Vishnu's 7th incarnation; Dasharatha and Kaushalya's son; Bharat, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's brother; Sita's husband
 * Tanmay Shah as Young Rama
 * Prachi Bansal as Sita / Devi Lakshmi - Lakshmi's incarnation; Janak and Sunaina's elder daughter; Urmila, Mandavi and Shrutakirti's sister; Rama's wife
 * Hansika Jangid as Young Sita
 * Basant Bhatt as Lakshmana - Sheshanaga's incarnation; Dasharatha and Sumitra's elder son; Rama, Bharata and Shatrughna's brother; Urmila's husband
 * Subhan Khan as Young Lakshman
 * Nikitin Dheer as Ravana - King of Lanka; Vishrava and Kaikasi's eldest son; Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's brother; Mandodari's husband; Meghanada, Akshayakumara and Atikaya's father
 * Athar Khan as Young Ravan
 * Nirbhay Wadhwa as Hanuman - Lord Vayu's son; Kesari and Anjana's son; Rama's devotee
 * Karim Qureshi as Young Hanuman

Recurring

 * Nikhilesh Rathore as Bharata - Shankha's incarnation; Dasharatha and Kaikeyi's son; Ram, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's brother; Mandavi's husband
 * Hassan Syed as Young Bharata
 * Samarthya Gupta as Shatrughna - Sudarshana's incarnation; Dasharatha and Sumitra's younger son; Rama, Bharata and Lakshmana's brother; Shrutakirti's husband
 * Shabd Grover as Young Shatrughna
 * Vaidehi Nair as Urmila - Nagalakshmi's incarnation; Janak and Sunaina's younger daughter; Sita, Mandavi and Shrutakirti's sister; Lakshmana's wife
 * Purvi Mishra as Young Urmila
 * Sheersha Tiwari as Mandavi - Lakshmi shankh's incarnation; Kushadhvaj and Chandrabhaga's elder daughter; Sita, Urmila and Shrutakirti's sister; Bharata's wife
 * Dhwani Buch as Young Mandavi
 * Siddhi Sharma as Shrutakirti - Lakshmi chakra's incarnation; Kushadhvaj and Chandrabhaga's younger daughter; Sita, Mandavi and Urmila sister; Shatrughna's wife
 * Dhivija Arora as Young Shrutakirti
 * Aarav Chowdhary as Dasharatha - King of Ayodhya; Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra's husband; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's father
 * Anandi Tripathi as Kaushalya - Dasharatha's first wife; Rama's mother
 * Shilpa Saklani as Kaikeyi - Dasharatha's second wife; Bharata's mother
 * Bhawna Aneja as Sumitra - Dasharatha's third wife; Lakshmana and Shatrughna's mother
 * Jiten Lalwani as Janaka - King of Mithila; Kushadhvaja's brother; Sunaina's husband; Sita and Urmila's father
 * Via Roy Chaudhary as Sunayana - Janaka's wife; Sita and Urmila's mother
 * Rushiraj Pawar as Meghanada - Ravana and Mandodari's elder son; Akshayakumara and Atikaya's brother; Sulochana's husband
 * Gurpreet Bedi / Harleen Rekhi as Mandodari - Mayasura and Hema's daughter; Ravana's wife; Meghanada and Akshayakumara's mother
 * --- as Kumbhakarna - Vishrava and Kaikasi's second son; Ravana, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's brother
 * Nishkarsh Dixit as Young Kumbhakarna
 * Kunal Bakshi as Vibhishana - Vishrava and Kaikasi's third son; Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Shurpanakha's brother; Rama's devotee
 * Sangeeta Odwani as Shurpanakha - Vishrava and Kaikasi's daughter; Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana's sister; Vidyutjiva's widow
 * Akash Kapoor as Akshayakumara - Ravana and Mandodari's younger son; Meghanada and Atikaya's brother
 * Malhar Pandya as
 * Sugriva - King of Kishkindha; Vali's younger twin brother; Ruma and Tara's husband
 * Vali - King of Kishkindha; Sugriva elder twin's brother; Tara's husband; Angada's father
 * Abhishek Jangra as Angada - Prince of Kishkindha; Vali and Tara's son
 * Tarun Sharma as
 * Jatayu - Shyeni and Aruna's younger son; Sampati's brother
 * Jambavanta - Rama's devotee; Jambavati's father
 * Tarun Khanna as Lord Shiva - Parvati's husband
 * Aishwarya Raj Bhakuni as Devi Parvati - Shiva's wife
 * Yash Bhojwani as Lord Kartikeya
 * Riyansh Vikram Dhabi as Lord Ganesha/ Umanandana, Ekadanta
 * Snehal Waghmare as Tara - Vali and Sugriva's wife; Angad's mother
 * Meghna Panchal as Ruma - Sugriva and Vali's wife
 * Geeta Khanna as Manthara - Kaikeyi's maid
 * Surendra Pal as Vasishtha - Family priest of Ayodhya; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna's teacher
 * Vishnu Sharma as Vishvamitra - Rama and Lakshmana's teacher
 * Dhananjay Singh as Sumantra - Dasharatha's minister
 * Yogesh Mahajan as Shatananda - Gautama Maharishi and Ahalya's son; Janaka's advisor
 * Manish Khanna as Jabali - Dasharatha's advisor
 * Jameel Chaudhary as Kesari - Brihaspati's son; Anjana's husband; Hanuman's father
 * Kinjal Pandya as Anjana - Kesari's wife; Hanuman's mother
 * Mrinal Shrivastav as Shabari - Rama's devotee; Matanga's student
 * Deepak Bhatia as Parashurama - Vishnu's 6th incarnation; Jamadagni and Renuka’s son; Shiva’s disciple
 * Garima Jain as Ahalya - Gautama Maharishi's wife; Shatananda's mother
 * Arun Singh as Atri - Anasuya's husband; Rama's guide; One of the Saptarshis
 * Sampada Vaze as Anasuya - Atri's wife
 * Sandeep Arora as Nala - Vishwakarma's son; Nila's brother
 * Nitin Parashar as Nila - Vishwakarma's son; Nala's brother
 * Meenakshi Sethi as Gargi - Vachaknu's daughter
 * Raja Kapse as Kakabhushundi - Rama's devotee
 * Brownie Parashar as Shukracharya - Meghanada's teacher
 * Kamaljeet Rana as Khara - Dushana's twin brother; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's step-brother
 * Arjun Kumar as Vidyutjiva - Shurpanakha's husband
 * Devish Ahuja as Shambuka - Shurpanakha and Vidyutjiva's son
 * Neetu Pandey as Kaikasi - Vishrava's wife; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's mother
 * Yogesh Bhardwaj as Prahasta - Sumali and Ketumathi's son; Ravana's uncle; Lanka's chief commander
 * Vineet Asthana as Kumbha - Kumbhakarna and Vajrajvala's elder son; Nikumbha's brother
 * Touseef Raza Barkati as Nikumbha - Kumbhakarna and Vajrajvala's younger son; Kumbha's brother
 * Ansha Sayed as Tataka - Sunda's wife; Marich and Subhau's mother
 * Satendra Yadav as Subahu - Sunda and Tataka's son; Marich's brother
 * Asha Singh as Trijata - Sita's guard at Ashoka vatika
 * Ritu P Sood as Surasa - Daksha and Asikni's daughter; Kashyapa's wife
 * Mohammed Saud Suri as Shravana Kumara - Shantanu and Gyanvanti's son
 * Govind Namdev as Lord Brahma - Creator of the Universe; Saraswati's husband
 * Shreya Khanna as Saraswati - Goddess of Knowledge; Brahma's wife
 * Meer Ali as Indra - King of Devas; Jayanta's father
 * Gaurav Sharma as Jayanta - Indra's son
 * Bharat Bhatia as Kubera - God of Wealth; Vishrava and Ilavida's son; Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and Shurpanakha's step-brother
 * Sharma M Shishir as Shani - God of Karma
 * Sandeep Sharma as Narada - Messenger of the Devas
 * Punesh Tripathi as Jambumali - Prahasta's son; Ravana's cousin

Development
Siddharth Kumar Tewary announced Shrimad Ramayan, that is produced under his banner Swastik Productions in August 2023. It is an adaptation of the epic Ramayana, and is based on Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas. In December 2023, Tewary stated that criticism to film Adipurush, was one of the reason to make the show. He added, "Honestly, I like the fact that audiences are sensitive towards the history of our country. It defines our history, culture and even our country. There is a reason why someone would get offended. And it's not my intention to offend anyone. I want them to come together and celebrate it with me. I have a proper research team and everything that's going out, every word about this show is properly vetted. So if anyone raises a question tomorrow, we have an authentic source that we can count on."

Casting
Sujay Reu and Prachi Bansal were cast as Rama and Sita respectively. The series marks Reu's third and Bansal's second project with the production house. Basant Bhatt and Vaidehi Nair were cast as Lakshmana and Urmila. Nirbhay Wadhwa was cast as Hanuman, in his fourth on-screen portrayal of the character.

In October 2023, Nikitin Dheer joined the cast as Ravana, marking his television comeback after 5 year. Aarav Chowdhary was cast as Dashratha. Nikhilesh Rathore was then cast as Bharata and Samarthya Gupta was cast as Shatrughna. Later, Anandi Tripathi was cast as Kaushalya, Bhawna Aneja as Sumitra and Shilpa Saklani as Kaikeyi. Neetu Pandey was cast as Kaikasi.

In January 2024, Gurpreet Bedi was cast to play Mandodari and Garima Jain was cast to play Ahalya. Sangeeta Odwani was cast to play Shurpanakha and Arjun Kumar was cast to play Vidyutjiva. Later, in February 2024, Rushiraj Pawar was cast to play Meghanada. In March 2024, Malhar Pandya was cast in the dual role of brothers Sugriva and Vali.

Design
The series set covering 10 acres of land in Umargam, Valsad, Gujarat, is designed by art director Omung Kumar. Costume designer of the series is Shibapriya Sen. Sita's wedding look included 15kg lehenga and 15meter long head trail. The hand-made embroidery took 3 days and 18 hours, with the entire lehenga taking 5 days to complete. Sen added, "Designing Sita's wedding look was ethereal, where femininity met divinity. It was a blessing to design the wedding looks for Prabhu Shri Ram and Mata Sita. The costumes and accessories were heavy, but the actors embraced it. We've maintained the sanctity of the occasion through traditional craftsmanship."

Filming
Shrimad Ramayan is mainly shot in Umargam in Gujarat and has a high production and VFX value.

Release
The teaser of Shrimad Ramayan, was released in August 2023. The series premiered on 1 January 2024 on Sony Entertainment Television, replacing Kaun Banega Crorepati in its timeslot. The team of Shrimad Ramayan also visited Ayodhya, before the launch. The show aired an hour episode till 22 January 2023. From, 23 January 2023, Mehndi Wala Ghar replaced its timeslot of the latter half.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Shrimad Ramayan has been composed by Lalit Sen with lyrics written by Vinod Sharma. Subhadeep Das Chowdhury, Menuka Poudel, Vaibhav Gupta, Ananya Pal and Utkarsh Wankhede, the contestants of Indian Idol 14 have also sung a version of the title song.

Reception
Gayatri Nirmal from Pinkvilla stated, "The surprisingly fresh and convincing cast works. The rich storytelling and the VFX (visual effects) literally added life to the characters, and the dialogues, drawn from the original scripture of Valmiki, are both powerful and thought-provoking."

Dubbed versions

 * Shrimad Ramayan is dubbed into Tamil as Ramayanam on Sun TV and began broadcast from 16 May 2024.
 * Shrimad Ramayan is dubbed into Malayalam as Rhhhamayanam on Surya TV and began broadcast from 20 May 2024.
 * Shrimad Ramayan is dubbed into Kannada as Shrimad Ramayana on Udaya TV and began broadcast from 20 May 2024.
 * Shrimad Ramayan is dubbed in Telugu as Shrimad Ramayanam on Gemini TV and began broadcast from 27 May 2024.