Dipika Chikhlia reacts to Arun Govil playing Dasharath in Ranbir Kapoor's Ramayana: 'If you played Ram...'

The iconic TV series Ramayan, which was created by Ramanand Sagar, had Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia portraying Lord Ram and Sita. Now, in Nitesh Tiwari's film adaptation Ramayana, Ranbir Kapoor and Sai Pallavi will be seen playing the Lord Ram and Sita. Arun Govil has been cast as Rama's father King Dasharatha in the upcoming film. However, Dipika finds this "a little out of context."

In a recent conversation, the OG Sita said that it would be very difficult to imagine Arun as Dasharatha as he has already played Ram. Speaking to The Times of India, the veteran actress said, "To see Arun in a role apart from Ram...I don’t know, I mean, see, I have seen him as Ram and I’ve seen myself as Sita. For me to see him as Dasharath is really a little out of context. But then I guess that’s really his choice. It’s very personal as to how people feel. It’s very difficult to break images. I mean, if you played Ram, then you are Ram."

When she was asked if she was also approached for Namit Malhotra's Ramayana, she replied, "I was never approached. I guess they’ve not even bothered to speak to me about it. Once I played Sita, I don’t think I can play any other character in Ramayan. It’s something I’m not sure about. If I was doing something in Mahabharat or Shiv Puran, I could still give it a thought, but not in a Ramayana film."

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, produced by Namit Malhotra’s Prime Focus Studios and 8-time Oscar winning VFX studio DNEG in association with Yash’s Monster Mind Creations;  Ramayana is being filmed for IMAX and will release worldwide - Part 1 in Diwali 2026 and Part 2 in Diwali 2027. Set 5,000 years ago and revered by 2.5 billion people globally, this grand epic unfolds as a two-part live-action cinematic universe, crafted on a scale matching the biggest global tentpoles.

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