AUTHOR PREM SAGAR UNVEILS HIS NEW BOOK  “AN EPIC LIFE: RAMANAND SAGAR FROM FILM BARSAAT TO RAMAYAN”

MRP- 699

Pages- 277

Hard Cover

ISBN- 9789388754804
The grand evening of the launch of the book was graced with the presence of the original star cast of Ramanand Sagar’s record-breaking TV series Ramayan- Dipika Topiwala, the Indian actress who rose to fame playing Devi Sita; Arun Govil, best known for playing Lord Rama; Sunil Lahiri, who played the role of Lakshman; Sameer Razda, most famous for playing Shatrughna; Bal Dhuri who played Dashrath, Renu Dhariwala who played Shroopnakha and most importantly Vindu Dara Singh, son of Dara Singh who played Hanuman. Alongside the star cast, the event also witnessed the editor of the TV series, Subash Sehgal and cameraman Ajit Naik.MUMBAI, 18 DECEMBER, 2019 (GPN):  On 17th December 2019 (Tuesday) at Title Waves, Bandra, Mumbai:- Author Prem Sagar, a devoted son of Ramanand Sagar gave a emotional tribute to legendary Ramanand Sagar by penning his life & achievement in a book titled “An Epic Life Ramanand Sagar from Barsaat to Ramayan”, a book published by Westland Publications (an Amazon Company).

It traces Sagar’s life from his birth in a small village Asal-guruke on the outskirts of Lahore on at sunrise of 29th December 1917. During that night there was a storm and the child was born with great difficulty. The book follows Ramanand’s life journey as he is given up by his own father at a tender age of six, to his maternal grand-father only to be bought up by his “childless” wife. His own mother unable to bear the separation from her son, dies a drug addict, as their family servant puts her onto drugs to relieve her pain of separation.

Ramanand was a principled and virtuous young man who opposed the evil tradition of dowry, and this resulted in him being thrown out of his house after he married the sister of his first wife at her cremation ceremony in Haridwar. A turbulent childhood with no love from the mother created many a scar in his soul, which laid the foundations of a prolific writer. He saw death so closely at the age of 18, when his firstborn son and wife died, that he realized the impermanence of life and the importance of “Sakshi Bhav” or witness consciousness. To remain objective and subjective at the same time, and observe one’s own self without any judgment. We are all but acting our parts of this divine play or movie. The reel of the movie has already been shot, including the ending, and we simply must go through it with a smile on our face.

The book follows Ramanand’s journey from becoming a literary writer from a journalist and then his dramatic escape in 1947 when Pakistani tribesmen attacked the state of Kashmir, his arrival in Bombay and his subsequent glorious career-the crowning achievement of which was the smashing success of Ramayan.

On 25 January 1987, with the telecast of the very first episode of Ramayan, Indian television changed for all time to come. In a matter of weeks, the series became a national obsession. During the Ramayan slot, roads emptied out. No marriages and political rallies were scheduled for that time. More than three decades later, there has been nothing to match it.

Ramanand Sagar, the man behind the phenomenon and a successful filmmaker from Bombay, was among the first to recognize the immense power of television. He first made his mark as a writer in Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat (1949). From 1961 to 1970, Sagar wrote, produced and directed six consecutive silver jubilee hits-Ghunghat, Zindagi, Arzoo, Ankhen, Geet and Lalkar.

About the Author- Prem Sagar began his career as a cinematographer with Ramanand Sagar’s Lalkar (1970) soon after completing his education from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune where he was a recipient of a gold medal for the best academic student of the year and a silver medal for the best-photographed student film. He was associated as a cinematographer or technical adviser with several popular and memorable films of Sagar Arts, including Charas, Bhagawat, Hamrahi, Pyara Dushman, Armaan, Jalte Badan, Badal, Prem Bandhanand Salma. He then turned director with Hum Tere Ashiq Hain.

In the Eighties, Prem Sagar produced and directed Indian television’s first fantasy serial, Vikramaur Betaal. As Co-producer, closely associated with the show Ramayan, Sagar went on to have an extremely successful career in television being associated with shows like Shri Krishna, Sai Baba, Prithviraj Chauhan, and Chandra Gupta Mauryain various creative capacities. He also directed Jai Maa Durga, Mahima Shani Dev Ki, Jai Jai Jai Bajrang Bali, and Basera. Prem Sagar has to his credit a total of fifteen awards as Director of Photography and many accomplishments in the field of still photography. The honors include the prestigious associateship of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS) of Great Britain and the Artiste Federation International de L’ArtsPhotographique Paris and a UNESCO award in Tokyo.

His son, Shiv Sagar, who was a creative producer on the series, Mahima Shani Dev ki on NDTV Imagine and Jai Bajrang Bali on Sahara one and currently did the research on the book for more than 3 years including visiting the state of Kashmir many a times, and meeting relatives, friends, co-workers and family who were associated with “Papaji”. These more than 300 interviews were transcribed along with original voice interviews of “Papaji” in the year 2002 (taken by Mr. Prem Sagar) where he revealed him some of the most intimate scars that he had never shown anyone became the base of this real-life story. Prem has been collecting over the years many rare postcards, letters, diaries, memorabilia, etc. of Papaji keeping in mind someday that he would write a book on him.

Prem and Shiv currently have a production house called Sagar World Multimedia which is working on a web series on lines of “Twilight” but instead of werewolves and vampires, they have characters inspired by Hindu Mythology. They have recently opened a non-profit company called “Ramanand Sagar Foundation” which is working towards uplifting rural poor of Karjat area, in between Mumbai and Pune. They are also making a “Ramanand Sagar” museum at Tooth Mountain farms in Karjat, where these rare memorabilia, which has been mentioned in the book, will be kept on display for visitors to see.