This Dussehra, The Quint decided to put together its own ensemble Ramleela cast. And as every good production does, we held auditions before casting for the roles of Raavan, Sita, Hanuman, Jatayu and the Vaanar Sena (The Monkey Army). The tapes are for your eyes only.
A whiny, complaining, nose-less sister fixated on revenge, a son with some sort of hero complex, a backstabbing brother, and his very own God complex – Raavan had quite a plateful to deal with. So even if someone put on some music, we hardly think Raavan could ever do the Copacabana. But The Quint's list of players shatter all logical story lines. We bring you some of the most whacky, entertaining and dastardly endearing Raavans.
All she did was cross the Lakshman rekha. And in one swoosh she was flown away in Raavan's flying chariot. But she did create quite a bit of fuss, yearning for her irresistible, Greek god, sorry, Indian god of a husband, dear Ram. But it's the 21st century now. Fisticuffs or powder-puffs – the Sitas we met were equally experienced in both.
Let us share this monkey baat with you. Now if we talk of lord Hanuman, doesn't the first image that pops up in your head is that of a pehlwan? We made a short trip to Jasaram Akhada and met our prospective Hanumans. And there they were, in all their towering, chest-thumping, dhobi-pachad glory – dirt, sweat and loincloths.
Ram's Vaanar Sena, or monkey army apparently built a bridge across the ocean to reach Raavan's abode of Lanka. Our Vaanar Sena decided to go all in, commando, for a dip and swim instead. Put children and a water body together, and you will get madness.
There have been theories that Jatayau might have been a pterodactyl or a reptile transitioning into a bird. Nevermind! Let's not start a culture war. He gave Raavan quite a nasty mid-air fight. But our Jatayus are all learning to fly. And, erm, to remember their lines.
Concept & Direction: Tridip K Mandal & Badsha Ray
Cameraperson: Sanjoy Deb, Tridip K Mandal, Erum Gour
Editing & Compositing: Kunal Mehra
Copy Editor: Abhirup Dam
Illustrations: Susnata Paul
Graphics: Rahul Gupta
UI/UX: Jaivardhan Singh Channey
Production: Tushar Banerjee