Lalit Modi on why Disney rejected financing Ramayan: ‘Ramanand Sagar walked into that meeting in shorts’

A pair of shorts, a room full of suits, and a deal that never happened. According to Lalit Modi, that is roughly how Disney walked away from financing one of the most beloved shows in Indian television history.

The former IPL chief has revealed that Disney turned down a proposal to back Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, partly because Ramanand Sagar showed up to the meeting in shorts. The revelation adds an unlikely footnote to the story of a series that, along with BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, is still considered the benchmark for mythological shows in India.

Both series became huge successes and continue to be remembered fondly, and Ramayan turned Dipika Chikhlia, Arun Govil and Sunil Lehri into overnight stars.

How the Disney deal came about

Speaking on a podcast with The Bharat Inc, Lalit explained that Doordarshan at the time did not finance programmes; instead, makers had to pay a fixed hourly cost. Lalit claimed he had already built an ecosystem for marketing, distributing and producing content by collaborating with Disney and bringing international content to Indian television. According to him, Ramanand Sagar and BR Chopra both approached him to finance Ramayan and Mahabharat, respectively.

He said, “Ramanand Sagar and BR Chopra both came to me and wanted me to finance it, and I was ready to finance it. I had an integrated system of marketing, production, worldwide syndication through Disney. But I had a partner in the Walt Disney Company. I told them that we should get into the production business and make a co-production with Ramanand Sagar. They said we have to sell our programming. It will be a conflict of interest. I kept pushing though.”

Lalit said he tried to convince Disney’s top executives to meet Ramanand Sagar’s demand for Rs 1 crore, which would allow Disney to secure the rights to the show. After much insistence, the executives agreed and travelled to India for a meeting.

“Disney came with a big entourage and private jets and Ramanand Sagar walked into that meeting in shorts. Everyone used to be suited at that time. Unki English bhi tuti futi thi (He had some issues with his English as well). He listened to what Disney had to say, but he couldn’t understand it fully and vice versa, so he couldn’t make an impression on the Disney guys. There used to be sophisticated pitches back then. They wanted to see a presentation. I could see that the president of Disney was ready to run out of the room.”

Lalit said Disney’s executives could not grasp Ramayan’s potential, as mythology had never been presented on Indian television on such a scale before. He added that there was little he could do about the rejection because he had a partner involved in the project.