'''Ramanand Sagar (B. 1917)'''


Hindi director, producer and writer born in
Lahore as Ramanand Shankardas Chopra.
Journalist for the Daily Milap and the Daily
Pratap 0936-42). Assisted e.g. H.S. Thakur
(Raiders a,{ the Railroad, 1936) and obtained a
degree in Sanskrit (1942). Migrated to Bombay
on Partition. recording the communal
holocaust in his classic Hincli novel, Aur
Insaan Mar Gaya ( 1948). Using the names
Ramanand Chopw and Ramanand Bedi,
ruhlished prose stories (Diary ol a TB Patient.
1942; jawar Ebata, 1943: Aine, 1944: jab Pable
Roz Barf Giri, 1944; .Hera Hamdam Mere Dost,
1945; Phool Aur Kaante, 1949J and plays (e.g.
Gaura. p~Irt of which was staged by Prithviraj
Kapoor's Prithvi Theatres as Kalakaar, 1951).
Broke through in cinema writing Raj Kapoor's
epochal Barsaat (1949). Wrote scripts and
dialogues for S.S. Vasan's Hindi films
(Insaniyat, 1955; Raj Tilak, 1958; Paigham,
1959) and directed two films (Gbungbat,
Zindagt) for Vasan's Gemini Studio. Produced
most of his own films via his Sagar Art (1953)
Notable recent work includes tile 91-episode
TV serial Ramayan, Doordarshan's first major
success with peak Sunday morning viewing of
c.78% of the audience. Continued with a sequel
derived from the Mahabharata (released on
video). Addressing communally charged ideals
of Hindu glorv, with a tacit glorification of sati,
the serial claims to be founded on Tulsidas's
16th C. Ramchan·tamanas, but formally it
remains within the ambit of e.g. Radheshyam
Kathavachak's popular playwrighting style.


'''FILMOGRAPHY:''' 1953: Mehmaan; 1954:
!!\ Bazooband; 1960: Ghungha.t; 1964: Zindagi;
1965: Ar:zoo; 1968 Aankhen; 1970: Geet:
1972: La/kaar, 1973: jalte Badan; 1976:
Charas; 1978: Prem Bandhan; 1982:
Baghavm: 1983: Romance; 1985: Salma;
1986-8: Ramayan (TV); 1989: Knshna (TV).

[[Director]]

[[Writer]]