Dipika Chikhlia’s Defence of the Casting Choice
The casting of Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram in Nitesh Tiwari’s ambitious two-part Ramayana has divided audiences long before the Diwali 2026 release. The recently unveiled trailer only amplified the conversation, with many fans struggling to reconcile the actor’s earlier, often intense roles — most recently the violent Animal — with the serene, revered figure he now plays.
Now veteran actress Dipika Chikhlia, forever associated with Sita after Ramanand Sagar’s television Ramayan, has entered the fray. Speaking on the Hindi Rush podcast, she argued that an actor’s job is to inhabit many lives, and that a back catalogue should never disqualify someone from a spiritual or mythological role. “He’s an actor. It’s not like we descended from above,” she said, referring to both herself and Arun Govil, who played Ram in the classic series.
Chikhlia stressed the sheer range that Kapoor has demonstrated — from the tender Barfi to the brutal Animal — as precisely the quality that makes him suitable. “Someone who can do Barfi can also do Animal. Someone who can do Animal can also play Ram. Imagine his good luck that he got these kinds of roles.” Her intervention carries particular weight because audiences still see her as the definitive screen Sita, a connection that gives her words a rarely granted authority in today’s casting debates.
Ranbir Kapoor himself addressed the responsibility during an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con. He admitted that his first instinct was to question his own worthiness, asking “Am I the right person, and why am I being gifted this responsibility?” But he soon concluded that no single actor can claim to be the “right” one to represent a story that has been alive for thousands of years. The film’s first part is slated for Diwali 2026, with the second due in 2027.
Where This Conversation About On-Screen Faith Actually Comes From
A Defense Rooted in Craft, Not Faith
Chikhlia’s argument stands on a purely professional ground: actors are not defined by a single character. In a film industry where mythological and historical figures are recast for every generation, she is effectively telling audiences to judge the performance, not the performer’s past. It’s a position that resonates in an era when star images are meticulously curated, yet increasingly fluid across OTT and theatrical releases.
The Long History of Public Unease Over Sacred Portrayals
Indian audiences have often reacted strongly to actors stepping into the robes of revered figures. When the 1987 Ramayan was being cast, similar questions swirled around Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhlia themselves. The repeat of this pattern suggests that the debate is less about Kapoor personally and more about the universal tension between popular celebrity and devotional sentiment — a tension that every major religious retelling on screen has had to navigate.
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