Arun Govil ( ; ; born 12 January 1952) is an Indian actor and politician from the
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
. He is best known for portraying
Lord Rama
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...
in the ''
Ramayan'' TV series and reprising his role as
Lord Rama
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...
(voice acting) in the 1993 animated film,
Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama. 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). He is currently serving as a
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...
to
Meerut Lok Sabha constituency from June 2024.
Early life
Arun Govil was born on 12 January 1952, in
Meerut
Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
. 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). His father wanted him to become a government servant while Arun wanted to do something for which he would be remembered.
Arun's father, 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
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
celebrity talk show on
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...
''
Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan'', which continued for 21 years.
Career
In 1975, He moved to
Mumbai
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
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.
After doing dramas in college he decided to start acting. Govil got his first break in
Indian cinema
The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...
in the 1977 film ''
Paheli'', when he was introduced to
Tarachand Barjatya
Tarachand Barjatya (10 May 1914 – 21 September 1992) was an Indian film producer. He has produced many Hindi films from the 1960s through to the 1980s. He founded Rajshri Productions which continues to produce films even today. His mainstay ...
by his sister-in-law
Tabassum.
He made his Bollywood debut in
Prashanta Nanda's ''
Paheli'' (1977).
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).
He made his small screen debut in
Ramanand Sagar's ''
Vikram Aur Betaal'' (1985). He was then cast as Lord
Rama
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...
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.
He reprised his role as Rama in Sagar's ''
Luv Kush'' and
Padmalya Telefilms Limited''
's
Jai Veer Hanuman''
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
Vijay Kapoor (30 October 1939 – 10 April 1990) was an Indian film director who worked in the Hindi film industry during the 1970s and 1980s. He is best known for directing Call Girl (1974 film), Call Girl (1974), a film noted for its controve ...
’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.
''Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin'' was another success at box office.
He featured in Kanak Mishra's ''
Jiyo To Aise Jiyo'' (1981).
Ramanand Sagar cast Govil as
Vikramaditya
Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: विक्रमादित्य IAST: ') was a legendary king as mentioned in ancient Indian literature, featuring in traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi, Vetala Panchavimshati'' and ''Singhasan ...
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
Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the ''Aitareya Brahmana'', ''Mahabharata'', the ''Markandeya Purana'', and the ''Devi-Bhagavata Purana, Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most ...
in the TV series ''Vishwamitra'' or
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
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).
He also played the role of
Laxman in
V. Madhusudhana Rao's ''
Lav Kush'' (1997). In the year 2020, he appeared on
The Kapil Sharma Show
''The Kapil Sharma Show'', also known as TKSS, is an Indian Hindi language stand-up comedy and talk show broadcast by Sony Entertainment Television. Hosted by Kapil Sharma, the first season of the show premiered on 23 April 2016. The series ...
as a guest along with
Dipika Chikhlia,
Sunil Lahri and Prem Sagar to promote book on late Ramanand Sagar.
Personal life
Govil is married to actress Shrilekha. They have two children together, Sonika and Amal. Their daughter in law's name is Divya.
On 18 March 2021, he joined the
Bhartiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...
.
Political career
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.
On 4 June 2024, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing
Meerut Lok Sabha constituency.
Filmography
Film
Television
See also
*
List of Indian television actors
*
List of Hindi television actresses
*
List of Indian television actresses
This is the list of notable Indian actresses appears in Indian Entertainment industry in India, television soap operas.
Television actresses are female actors who perform in television shows, serials, and reality shows. These actresses portr ...
References
External links
*
*
Arun Govil Official Website*
*
*
Arun Govil on Koo App
{{DEFAULTSORT:Govil, Arun
Indian male film actors
Male actors in Bengali cinema
Indian male television actors
Living people
Actors from Meerut
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University alumni
Male actors in Hindi cinema
21st-century Indian male actors
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh
Indian actor-politicians
1958 births
India MPs 2024–2029
Politicians from Meerut
Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh