Arun Govil (/ɑːrun ɡvɪl/ GO-will; born 12 January 1958) is an Indian actor and politician from Bhartiya Janta Party. He is best known for portraying Lord Rama in Ramayan TV series (1987-1988). He also appeared in films like Paheli (1977), Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979), Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979), Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981), Himmatwala (1983), Dilwaala (1986), and Govinda Govinda (1994).

Arun Govil
Govil in 2022
Born (1958-01-12) 12 January 1958 (age 66)[1]
NationalityIndian
Alma materAgra University
OccupationActor
Years active1977–present
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseShrilekha Govil
Children2
ParentChandraprakash Govil (father)
Relatives
  • Vijay Govil (brother)
  • Tabassum (sister–in– law)

Early life edit

Arun Govil was born on 12 January 1958 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.[2][3][better source needed] He spent his teenage life in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He got his formal education at an affiliated college of Agra University situated in Shahjahanpur, where he studied science (BSc degree).[4] His father wanted him to become a government servant while Arun wanted to do something for which he would be remembered.[5]

Arun's father, Shri Chandraprakash Govil, was a government officer. Arun is the fourth of six brothers and two sisters. His elder brother Vijay Govil was married to Tabassum, a former child actress and the host of the first Bollywood Celebrity talk show on Doordarshan Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan, which continued for 21 years.[6]

Career edit

In 1975, He moved to Mumbai to join his brother's business there. After a short while, he found that he no longer enjoyed the work and decided to find something more enjoyable.[5] After doing dramas in college he decided to start acting. Govil got his first break in Indian cinema in the 1977 film Paheli, when he was introduced to Tarachand Barjatya by his sister-in-law Tabassum.[7]He made his Bollywood debut in Prashanta Nanda's Paheli (1977).[7] He shot to stardom after he was cast in Kanak Mishra's Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979) and Satyen Bose's Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979).[8][9] He made his small screen debut in Ramanand Sagar's Vikram Aur Betaal (1985).[10] He was then cast as Lord Rama in Sagar's TV series Ramayan (1986), for which he won the Uptron Award in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category in 1988.[11][5][12] He reprised his role as Rama in Sagar's Luv Kush and Padmalya Telefilms Limited's Jai Veer Hanuman[13][14]Barjatya was really impressed by Govil's performance in the film and he signed him a three-film-deal — Kanak Mishra's Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979), Vijay Kapoor's Raadha Aur Seeta (1979) and Satyen Bose's Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979). Sawan Ko Aane Do became a major success at box office catapulting Govil to stardom.[8] Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin was another success at box office.[9] He featured in Kanak Mishra's Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981).

Ramanand Sagar cast Govil as Vikramaditya in his television series Vikram Aur Betaal and Rama in Ramayan.

His role as Rama provided him great exposure and led him to be cast in other roles such as Harishchandra in the TV series Vishwamitra or Buddha in the TV series Buddha. He lent his voice as Rama in Yugo Sako's Indo-Japanese animation film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992).[15] He also played the role of Laxman in V. Madhusudhana Rao's Lav Kush (1997).[16] In the year 2020, he appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show as a guest along with Dipika Chikhlia, Sunil Lahri and Prem Sagar to promote book on Late Ramanand Sagar.

Personal life edit

Govil is married to actress Shrilekha.[17][18] They have two children together, Sonika and Amal. Their daughter in law's name is Divya.[18][19]

On March 18, 2021, he joined the Bhartiya Janata Party.[20]

Political career edit

Arun Govil was nominated as the Bharatiya janta party candidate for Meerut Lok Sabha constituency from Uttar Pradesh on 25 March 2024 to contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.[21]

Filmography edit

Film edit

YearFilmCharacterNotes
1977PaheliBalram
1979Sawan Ko Aane DoBrij Mohan/Birju
Saanch Ko Aanch NahinAjay S. Agarwal
Raadha Aur SeetaShekhar Verma
1980JudaaiUmakant S. Verma
Ganga DhamMohan
1981Jiyo To Aise JiyoKundan Sharma
Itni Si BaatAnand
ShradhanjaliRaju Kumar
CommanderRakesh Kumar
1982GumsumShankar
AyaashAmal
SasuralNarendra
Jawalaa Dahej Ki
Brij BhoomiBraj Bhasha dialect film
1983KalkaShibu
Lal Chunariya
HimmatwalaGovind
Justice ChaudhuryInspector Ramesh Chaudhary
1984AasmaanDoctor
Kanoon Meri Mutthi Mein
Ram Tera DeshPrakash
1985Karm YudhRajesh
Do Dilon Ki DastaanKamal
YudhInspector Bhargav
BaadalThakur Kiran Singh
Lallu RamShankar/Raju
1986Devar Bhabiin Hindi & BhojpuriActresses Shoma Anand (Hindi) & Upaasna Singh(Bhojpuri)
DilwaalaMohan Kumar
ShatruSalim
NafratVijay
1987MaashukaArun Verma
1989Bidhir BidhanBengali film
Pyari DulhaniyaBhojpuri film
1991Edu KondalaswamyLord VenkateswaraTelugu film
1992Ramayana: The Legend of Prince RamaLord Ramavoice only
Shiv MahimaLord Shiva
1993MuqablaHavaldar Satyaprakash
1994Govinda GovindaLord VenkateswaraTelugu film
KanoonPankajVishal's brother
1995Shanivrat MahimaBhagwan Indra/
Lord Venkestwara
HathkadiArun Chauhan
Buk Bhara BhalobashaSoumitra DuttBengali film
1996Great RobberyLord VenkateswaraTelugu film
1997DhaalInspector Deodhar
Do Ankhen Barah Hath
Lav KushLaxmana
Gaon DeshBade ChaudharyBhojpuri Film
1999UpendraRaja VikramadityaKannada Film
2006Babul PyaarePandit Hari SinghBhojpuri Film
2007KanhaiyoRajasthani Film
2023SergeantNikhil's Fatheron JioCinema
OMG 2Principal Atal Nath Maheshwari
Hukus BukusPandit Radheshayam
2024695
Article 370Prime MinisterHindi Film
Ramayana (flim)DasharathaHindi , English

Television edit

YearTitleRoleNotes
1985Vikram Aur BetaalKing Vikramāditya
1987-1988RamayanLord Rama
1989Luv KushLord Rama
1989VishwamitraRaja Harishchandra
1992PhoolwantiPandit Vankatesh Shastri
1994-95MashaalAjay
1995Jai Veer HanumanRam
1996- 1997BuddhaBuddha
1998-1999AshiquiSushil
1999-2000Pal ChhinPratap Singh
2000-2001Basera
2001Kaise KahoonZaheer Ahmed
2002SaanjhiAmar
2003Ehsaas - Kahani Ek Ghar Ki
2003Gayatri Mahima Rishi Chavan
2023JubileeNarain KhannaAmazon Prime Video series

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.fridayrelease.com/celebrities/arun-govil/6141
  2. ^ "Arun Govil movies, filmography, biography and songs - Cinestaan.com". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Arun Govil - BollywoodMDB". www.bollywoodmdb.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Ahead of contesting Meerut elections, Arun Govil in debt of Rs 14 lakh; A look at Ramayan actor's assets and qualifications". The Times of India. 3 April 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Arun Govil: the first Ram". www.hindustantimes.com. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Suraiya... they all loved me". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Paheli (1977) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos | Cinestaan". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos | Cinestaan". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos | Cinestaan". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Vikram Aur Betaal: It was great storytelling with a twist". www.hindustantimes.com. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  11. ^ "I would never regret playing lord Ram: Arun Govil - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Recent news". www.friendsofprasarbharati.org. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Arun Govil in Jai Veer Hanuman". Archived from the original on 8 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Luv Kush, Uttar Ramayan episodes". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (Released) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos | Cinestaan". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Lav Kush (1997) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos | Cinestaan". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Arun Govil with his wife Shrilekha". Photo Gallery. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  18. ^ a b Ekta Chanana (15 October 2021). "Arun Govil real life Sita, Shreelekha". Bollywood Shaadi's.
  19. ^ "Remember Arun Govil Who Played Ram In The First Ever 'Ramayana'? His Daughter Is All Grown Up Now!". PagalParrot. 16 January 2018. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Arun Govil of Ramayana fame joins BJP". The Indian Express. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  21. ^ The Hindu (24 March 2024). "Kangana Ranaut, Arun Govil, Maneka Gandhi in BJP fifth list; Varun Gandhi dropped". Archived from the original on 25 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.

External links edit