Before Ranbir Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan was ‘the perfect Ram’ with Amitabh Bachchan as Dashrath

According to a 2008 report in Mumbai Mirror, the project was titled The Legend of Rama and was to be co-scripted by Sanjay Khan and UK-based author Farrukh Dhondy. The proposed cast was equally ambitious. Sanjay’s then son-in-law Hrithik Roshan was being considered for the role of Lord Rama, while his son Zayed Khan was set to play Lakshman. Amitabh Bachchan, meanwhile, was reportedly approached to play King Dashrath.

Zayed had even confirmed the project in an interview with Subhash K Jha for Mumbai Mirror in 2008, revealing that his father had been working on the idea for several years. “Yes, my father is indeed making the Ramayan. It’s called The Legend of Rama. He has been planning this film for the last three years and looking for a perfect actor to play Ram. And who but Hrithik could be the perfect choice for the role?”

Farrukh Dhondy, who was attached to the project as co-writer, had also offered an insight into how the team planned to approach the epic. Rather than presenting the story as a conventional mythological, the idea was to give it a contemporary cinematic treatment. “It’s Ramayan in modern format, and the script is ready. This means it will be the Ramayan in The Lord Of The Rings genre. The screenplay has the motion, motivation and movement of a Shakespearean play. When you do a Mahabharata, Ramayan or any other scripture, the danger is it just becomes—‘the Gods did this, the Gods did that,’ because the Gods can do anything they like. That’s why you are taught in writing school never to include Gods in your creativity. I’m trying to rationalise the ways of the Gods. Hrithik is the perfect Ram, and Zayed the perfect Lakshman.”

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Despite the scale of the vision and the names attached to it, The Legend of Rama never made it to the screen. Nearly two decades later, the Ramayana is finally being mounted as a major theatrical spectacle, this time with Namit Malhotra as producer and an international musical team led by Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman.

‘No right actor to play Lord Rama’

Ranbir Kapoor has recently found himself at the centre of debate over his casting as Lord Rama in the upcoming film. The actor addressed the criticism while promoting the two-part epic at San Diego Comic-Con. During a conversation with Review Nation, Ranbir opened up about the responsibility of portraying one of the most revered figures in Indian mythology. “The first question that popped into my head was, am I worthy? Am I the right person and why am I being gifted this responsibility to not play Lord Rama but represent him? But very soon you understand the value, the responsibility and the noble intention of the filmmakers to present the story, which has been relevant for 4,000 years. It’s deeply ingrained in our subconscious. So I don’t think there’s a right actor to play Lord Rama.”

The actor went on to explain that every devotee has their own image and understanding of Lord Rama, making it impossible for any one actor to meet everyone’s expectations. For Ranbir, what ultimately matters is the sincerity, faith and intention with which an actor approaches the role. “All the people who have watched Ramayana, they all have their own interpretation of Lord Ram. There is no fixed face to it. Many people will probably feel like I am the wrong casting. Some people will say I am the right casting. But the honest truth is that the right casting for Ram would be any actor who has the right intentions and who has belief and faith in the journey of Lord Ram.”