Mumbai, March 27 (IANS) With Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar announcing the retelecast of the popular television serial of the 1980s, "Ramayan"on Doordarshan during the 21-day natonal lockdown, social media is full of request for retelecast of "Mahabharat" and "Chanakya".

People seems to be having a rush of nostalgia about these serials, which used to dominate the television in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These epics aired on Doordarshan kept people glued to their TV sets. Everybody used to watch "Ramayan" and "Mahabharat" together with their friends and family. Those who didn't have television at home used to visit neighbours to make sure they didn't miss a single episode.

Now with Ramanand Sagar's "Ramayan" being retelecast, everybody is eagerly waiting to watch it again, which reflects from their social media posts. Amid the nationwide lockdown, people confined to their homes have ample time to sit and watch hour-long episodes daily.

Talking about the same, a user tweeted: "#Ramayan to be re-telecast from Tomorrow i.e. 28th March, two times a day. 1st episode at 9 Am and 2nd episode at 9 Pm.
Doordarshan to re-telecast its all time greatest Dharmic content for #coronaviruslockdown and I think they will soon also start #Mahabharat."

Another user demanded: "We love mahabharat also please telecast #Mahabharat."

Another user requested: "Please #Mahabharat telecast at 9 P. M. because we all free in the night."

Reacting to the Union Minister's tweet announcing "Ramayana", another user tweeted: "Great news Sir also retelecast #chanakya too. Please consider about it."

Several others tweeted demanding retelecast of "Chanakya" and "Mahabharat" along with "Ramayan". Since Friday afternoon, the hashtags #Ramayan and #Mahabharat are trending on Twitter.

When asked about "Ramayan" being retelecast and public demanding "Mahabharat" too, actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who used to play the iconic character of Bhagwan Shri Krishna in "Mahabharat" told IANS: "This is wonderful. There are a certain set of values to be learnt from Ramayan and some lessons from Mahabharat. Ramayan will teach today's generation restraint while Mahabharat will give them so many things to think about. It will help them introspect."

Emphasizing why millennials also should watch these epics, which were aired long before they were born, the actor further said: "Perhaps millennials will laugh at the special effects because they are used to much better quality but they need to be told by their parents that this was 30 years ago when special effects didn't exist in this country. Characterisation, storytelling and dialogues are the core things of these two serials. Kids will benefit if they focus on the same."

"There has to be a reason why these two mahakavyas are alive and kicking actually! They have something to offer to mankind," he concluded.

--IANS abh/vnc