Explained: Gadar and Gadar 2’s inspiration from Ramayana and Mahabharata

The stories in the Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata took place thousands of years ago. But the special aspect is that even the smallest of tales told in them are still relevant and shall continue to do so. Hence, even some of the movies of today’s times get inspired by them. Classic examples of this are Anil Sharma’s films Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) and the recently-released Gadar 2, which are written by the veteran screenwriter Shaktimaan.

Ramayana tells the story of Lord Rama’s wife Sita being kidnapped by the evil Ravana and taken to Lanka. The incident happens when Rama, Sita and Lakshmana are in exile (vanvaas). Rama then teams up with Hanuman, Sugreeva and their vaanar sena, goes to Lanka and rescues Sita from the clutches of Ravana.

The first Gadar was about Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) and Sakeena (Ameesha Patel) falling in love during India’s Partition, getting married and having a kid. Later on, Sakeena, who assumed her family to be dead during the Partition and vice versa, realizes that her family and relatives are alive and doing well in Pakistan. Moved to know that his daughter is alive and hale and hearty, Ashraf Ali (Amrish Puri) takes her for a visit to Pakistan.

Little did Sakeena know that she will be held captive across the border by her own family, which also disregards her marriage with Tara. After trying hard with the authorities, Tara finally decides to venture into Pakistan with his son Jeete (Utkarsh Sharma) and friend Darmiyaan (the late Vivek Shauq) to rescue Sakeena and succeeds in it. The character of Darmiyaan is based on Hanuman here.

Anil Sharma himself had once said that the basic idea of Gadar was adapted from the Ramayana, of course by making several changes. Interestingly, he also said that just like how Ravana takes away Sita in his airplane Pushpak Viman, Ashraf Ali also takes Sakeena to Pakistan in a plane. There is also a version of Ramayana where Ravana is shown as Sita’s father. Maybe the makers thought about this version as well.

Gadar 2, which recently released, takes inspiration from a chapter in the Mahabharata. During the war of Kurukshetra between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna’s son Abhimanyu decides to help his father by penetrating into the Chakravyuh created by the enemy camp. He successfully enters the Chakravyuh. When he was in his mother’s womb, he had heard his father disclose the secret of entering the Chakravyuh.

However, as Arjuna didn’t reveal how to come out of the Chakravyuh, Abhimanyu is unable to come out of it. Hence, he gets mercilessly killed by the Kauravas.

Spoilers ahead

Similarly, in Gadar 2, Jeete, who is now grown up, goes to Pakistan to rescue his father after he believes that he is held captive across the border. However, that isn’t the case as Tara was in India itself. He has recuperating after an injury during a cross border operation. Tara returns home and is devastated to realize that Jeete is stuck in Pakistan.

Also read: Story of Ravana as narrated in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai

Over here, Chakravyuh is symbolized by Pakistan. Jeete is easily able to enter the enemy territory. But just like Abhimanyu, he is unable to come out of it. Of course, Gadar 2 is a typical masala Hindi movie where a happy ending is a must and the hero has to win. Therefore, the final outcome is changed and Tara succeeds in rescuing Jeete.

The makers have indirectly announced Gadar 3 at the end of Gadar 2. We can just guess which story from Indian epics will be explored this time.

Also read: List of Ramayana references in RRR (SPOILERS alert)

Story of Raavan as narrated in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai

Filmmaker Apoorv Singh Karki’s Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai has been gaining positive reactions from critics and audiences alike. The courtroom drama starring Manoj Bajpayee in the lead has released on ZEE5. It tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who gets raped by a self-proclaimed Godman Babaji.

The victim’s parents run from pillar to post to get justice but fail, until they meet the lawyer PC Solanki, played by Bajpayee. He puts in his everything to ensure that the girl gets justice and the fake Godman is severely punished for the heinous crime. The film is inspired from the real life case of Asaram, who is currently serving jail term for raping a minor.

While Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai turns out to be an overwhelming and emotional saga, it has some mythological connection that is presented in the end. Without giving away any spoilers, the film gives an example of the story of Raavan after he loses his battle against Lord Ram.

Ancient Indian texts have various versions and the same is the case with Ramayana. We are generally told that Raavan attains Moksha when he is killed by Ram in the end. However, there is one version that says otherwise. This version is narrated in a scene in Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai.

After Raavan gets eliminated by Ram, he doesn’t attain Moksha. He was an ardent follower or Bhakt of Lord Shiva. Raavan does intense penance in order to get forgiven by Shiva for his crime of abducting Ram’s wife Sita. He keeps doing tapasya for years but doesn’t succeed in eliciting any response from Shiva. The lord’s consort Parvati feels for Raavan’s condition and she asks Shiva the reason for not forgiving Raavan.

Shiva gives a very interesting answer to this. He says that he could have forgiven Raavan if he would have abducted Sita as Raavan. However, he did that by impersonating a sage and this is why he cannot be forgiven because he insulted all the pious sages through his act. For the unversed, Raavan impersonated a sage and faked asking for alms from Sita in order to kidnap her.

Also Read: Who was Raktabeej as mentioned in Pathaan?

List of Ramayana references in RRR (SPOILERS alert)

SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Roudram Ranam Rudhiram aka RRR has been impressing the audiences and doing very well at the box office. Like his previous films, his larger-than-life vision seems to have worked again. The film is a fictional tale based on freedom fighters Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem.

But Rajamouli himself has admitted quite a few times that he is heavily influenced by the ancient Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. If one looks closely at RRR, one would realize that it is his own adaptation and recreation of Ramayana, although with some changes.

Here are some instances from RRR that are inspired from Ramayana: [SPOILERS ahead]

The little tribal girl Malli is forcibly taken away by a British couple after they are impressed with her artistic abilities. Malli represents Sita while the British, who are shown as evil rulers, represent Raavan. Just like Raavan was impressed with Sita’s beauty, the British couple was amazed by her art.

The character of Ram, played by Ram Charan, rescues her in the end from the British. Naturally, he plays Lord Rama who rescues Sita from the clutches of Raavan. To make it more obvious, Ram Charan is made to dress up like Rama and literally fight with the use of bow and arrow. The only difference is that Ram Charan’s character pretends to work for the British for a good amount of time, which is the Rajamouli’s own addition.

Ram Charan in RRR

Bheem, played by Jr NTR, represents Hanuman, who helps Rama rescue Sita. Hanuman initially goes to Lanka to confirm Sita’s presence over there. He assures her of Rama arriving to rescue her. In the movie, Bheem goes to the palace of the British, which represents Lanka. He meets Malli but is unable to save her but promises her rescue.

Hanuman destroys Lanka by setting it on fire, which shocks Raavan. Similarly, Bheem destroys the palace in the pre-interval portion and this gives a jolt to the British. Ramayana shows great contribution from the vanar sena or animals. In this particular scene, Bheem takes help from a number of animals to enter the palace.  

Hanuman is captured by Raavan and his men when he goes there to deliver Rama’s message to Sita. They try to torture him but it all goes in vain and he finally escapes. When Bheem gets captured by the British in RRR, they try to break him but he remains strong. He also escapes from there, although with timely help from Ram Charan’s character.

Before the war against Raavan commences, Rama, along with Laxman, is trapped underground in Pataal Lok by another demon named Mahiraavan. Hanuman takes great efforts in saving Him from there. The film shows Ram Charan’s character captured in an underground cell and it is Bheem who rescues him.

When Bheem rescues Ram from an underground cell in RRR

Ramayana has an instance where Hanuman carries Rama and Laxman on his shoulders. The movie also has a scene where Bheem is carrying the character of Ram Charan in the same way.

Bheem carrying Ram on his shoulders

Also, Jr NTR’s character Bheem has the qualities like that of Mahabharata’s Bheem. For example, his physical strength. As said before, he is playing Hanuman in RRR. Interestingly, both Bheem and Hanuman were half brothers as both were the sons of the Wind God and are known as ‘Pavan Putra’. There is an incident in Mahabharata where both the characters meet. Read about that incident HERE.

Interestingly, it’s Rajamouli’s dream to make a film on the Mahabharata. Speaking to the news channel India TV recently, he said, “The characters that I write for my Mahabharata will not be the same as you’ve seen or read before. I will tell Mahabharata in my own way. The Mahabharata (story) will be the same, but the characters will be enhanced and the inter-relationships between the characters will be added.”

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