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Reel Ram, real choices
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Actor Arun Govil says he eats to live and at times cooks to please his family
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FOOD WISE Arun Govil enjoying his lunch at the InterContinental The Grand in New Delhi Photo: R.V. Moorthy
It has indeed turned out to be a heavy yoke. And he admits it right away. Actor Arun Govil, after playing the imposing role of Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's mega-offering on Doordarshan, Ramayan a couple of decades ago is still reeling under its aftermath.
"Whoever I approached later for any role told me, `You have such a grand image, we will have to think of giving you nothing less than that.' So I remained caught in my own image," confesses Govil.
New tele-project
At New Delhi's Intercontinental The Grand, waiting for his lunch to arrive, Govil though, is excited about his new tele-project, Jahan Jahan Ram Charan Chali Jahin that started on Zee Jagran in the first week of April. "The series is a travelogue that takes viewers across two countries, 10 States, 72 districts and 250 places. As the name suggests, these places are where Lord Ram visited during his lifetime. I am the anchor of this tele-pilgrimage. There are some benefits of living such an image, you see," he says in that familiar baritone, lacing it with the half-smile that kept the morning viewers of Ramayan hooked to him with such devotion in the early days of television in India.
Even as a waiter packs the table with food from the day's menu - rice, roti, a paneer preparation, a chicken dish, the omnipresent salad, raita, dal makhani and more - Govil pumps in new details about the show:
"The concept researcher is Ram Avtar, a man who has been on this `khoj' (exploration) for over 20 years. The title song of this Sunday morning show is very soulfully sung by Pankaj Awasthi. We started with a small village called Makhauda, some 20 km from Ayodhya where Raja Dashrath performed the putrayesthi yagna. The havan kund of this yagna is still present." Going by the waiter's array, he fills his plate with a little rice, a roti, some paneer, dal makhani and a bit of salad, winning a smile from him in the process.
Obliging at the table
"I actually don't like to eat all this. I am a very frugal eater and eat to live, and not otherwise," he almost whispers as soon as the waiter is out of earshot. Not willing to disappoint anyone, he digs into his plate though, even walks up to a corner with his plate to pose for a picture.
With such a pile of food right in front, the subject of conversation just can't be anything else.
"I am not a very keen rice eater. Instead, I prefer aata ka parantha, you know the typical kind made with wet hands," he shares.
Among his favourite dishes are bharwa karela, sukha karela and urad ki dal.
"I also cook at times," he suddenly blurts out, adding, "But only to please my wife and kids." He has not got many compliments for that though! "Simply because I can make very little variety. I can dish out a khichdi, an omelette, some potato fry and yes, the aata ka parantha that I make becomes round most times," he claims.
With the larger-than-life image of the modern-day Ram always hanging over his head like a Damocles' sword, Govil however has succeeded in not letting this affect his food habits. "I take non-vegetarian food, but if you give me an option of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, then it is likely I would go for a vegetarian meal simply because that is a healthy practice," he states. Also for the same reason, he prefers not to eat out. "But I take my family out sometimes because they insist and I don't want to impose my feelings on them," he says, almost summing up his dessert-less lunch.
No to politics
Not involved in any other acting project, Govil surprisingly has also managed to keep himself away from politics while his co-actor Deepika was soon roped into fighting elections. He could jolly well have an alternate career.
"But that was never my aim," is all he has to say.
Not trying to ride on his success is not everyone's idea of success, and due credit should go to the man.
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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