N T Rama Rao, Telugu cinema’s mythological star Pauwels’ book Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting Classics. In fact, Adib and Samarth were so popular as the mythological characters that they were featured as Ram and Sita on calendars, according to Heidi R.M. Ram Rajya ended up becoming the only film Gandhi ever saw, since he was opposed to the cinematic medium on principle.īhatt made at least three other movies with Adib and Samarth playing Rama and Sita: a year before Ram Rajya, the three had worked on Bharat Milap (1942), and the collaboration would be reprised with Rambaan (1948) and Ramayan (1954). It became the first Indian movie to have a premiere in the US, and was also notable for its title and its connection to the Indian independence movement- ‘Ram Rajya’ literally translates to ‘Reign of Rama’, a phrase Mahatma Gandhi often used to invoke democratic rule for India. Another notable venture was Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya (1943), starring Prem Adib as Rama and Shobhna Samarth as Sita.
