Disclaimer: Believe me, this answer really does not intend to hurt the sentiments of any person or society, especially the SKR fans (if they exist).
But, if you do get offended, don’t tell me later that I didn't warn you. *wink*
🚨 Long answer ahead!
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To be honest, “Siya ke Ram” to Ramayan is what “RadhaKrishn” is to Krishna - Leela, but better, of course! There’s absolutely no match to the latter’s excellence. 🤫
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Forward to the Andher Nagri of SKR - Ayodhya and meet the chaupat Raja - Dashrath, pacing in the exact same way, every time he is shown. (FYI, in this serial, this corridor has more screentime than Raja Dashrath himself.) 😅
My dearest illiterate folks, if you believed that Maharaj Dashrath was anything like a brave or just king, it’s sad to say that your whole life’s been a lie!
Dashrath is a big crybaby in ‘reality’ and the sole motive of his existence is to worry for his beloved Ram and cry, of course!
This Maharaj suffers from acute swapnophobia and keeps declaring, “Aaj wo swapn fir aaya tha” to literally every soul he meets. Do you think Shravan’s story came to be known only by the queens after Shri Ram’s departure? Nah, it’s a world-known fairytale here! 🙄
He’s the naivest kid in town, who keeps giving bumper packages of free vachans, to anyone and everyone. Let me quote Maharshi Vashishth’s words rebuking him, for you, straight from the authentic serial: “Baat - baat par vachan nahi dena chahiye, Dashrath. Kab seekhoge tum?” Seriously? 😂
He is the biggest patriarchal misogynist you would have known! He denounces his own perfect-in-every-field daughter, just for the sake of getting sons and then, hates Mata Kaushalya. What a moron! 😒
But, he is such a narcissistic dude again, that he goes about claiming ‘meri putri’, ‘mera parityag’ and everything as ‘mera’. Taaliyan bajti rehni chahiye inke liye! 😐
These stories of “Janak vs Dashrath” aka “Siya ke Ram”, comes directly from source: “13 Reasons why UNDISCO declared that Mithila is better than Ayodhya - EXCLUSIVE on YouTube”.
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Forget about him and meet Kaushalya, who just can’t simply get over the fact that Shanta is long gone and will never return. And, the duties of the chief queen? Nah, she doesn’t give a damn to anything else, because after all, Shanta is life, isn’t she? 🤐
But, wait! Shanta hasn’t got anything to do with the putrakameshti yajna, right? No, dear fellows! She was the “victim” of Dashrath’s misogyny.
Now, this wayyy too much raita to be mopped up. 😶 It’s just a deliberately overhyped story, distorted to the core, and is light years away from anything authentic.
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To all SKR fans: You call this creativity, I call it mockery. We are just not the same, bro. ✋🏻
*Le Bro: But, the CGI is too good. I like the graphics very much. So majestic, grand and…
*Le Deer: Hold on dear, am I a joke to you?
*CGI committed suicide here* (1 upvote = 1 pray) 😉
Ok, let’s not quarrel about ‘trivial’ matters, we have got so much more to come…
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|| Fast forward 8 years ||
With the passage of time, the duration of unnecessary dhoom tana na has considerably increased and we have finally made it to the “Typical Indian Serial stage” where Ram gets busy in finding out secrets, Kaikeyi overhears some unwanted conversation, Dashrath’s secrets are slowly revealed, Sumitra ‘accidentally’ overhears some disturbing information, Janak overhears something in Mithila, somewhere an aarti ki thali falls down and bad omens are prophesized. 🙄
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But, there is one thing that I absolutely adore in this serial - the portrayal of Bharat. Like, I can relate to him so much! Even after being the avatar of the Sudarshan chakra, he is a noob in warfare and struggles to become like “Sharma ji ka beta” or rather, “Kaushalya di ka beta” as forced by the typical Indian mother, Mata Kaikeyi. 🙏🏻 Moreover, he is forced to go to relative's places too, just like me. I can feel you, Bharat! 😅
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Digging deeper into the shit… Oops! Serial, I meant. 🙃
Gargi and Yajnavalkya’s debate: The discussion which was meant to revolve around brahman and aatman was reduced to a mere talk on “love”. Amazing! 🙏🏻
Dashrath’s vachan to Ashwapati: This is something you would have never heard of! Dashrath vows to make Bharat the king, if he was born as his eldest son. And, to prove the mettle of Bharat as a potential king, Kaikeyi sends him to stay at his maternal grandfather’s place, Kekaya for a whole 8 years! Can we deduce that Kaikeyi hated Ram all this while? Yes, of course! Baburao style mein bole to, “Mastt joke maara!” 👌🏻
Ashwamedh Yajna: A completely non-existent part of this imaginary story, with an even more non-existent and idiotic speech on ahimsa by Ram, which defines another extremity of “weed-writing”. 🙄
Just a question: They did have the Ashwamedh Yajna after Sita’s departure to the forests, right? Then, what was the logic behind this nonsense?
Devi Sita’s swayamvar: Since it’s already glorified to such an extent that people won’t even believe that there is no special event as a swayamvar in the Valmiki Ramayan. But, still… Ravan in the swayamvar? 😕 Now, this is the Mt. Everest of stupidity!
Lakshman as Gudakesh: Here, Devi Nidra blesses Lakshman to stay awake for 14 years to serve Sita and Ram ‘efficiently’, and transfers his part of sleep to Urmila. Nowhere mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayan, this is a mere folklore from the Ranganatha Ramayan.
Sita Mata as Neha Dhupia-chhap ‘feminist’: Would you believe if I said that Sita rebuked Lakshman for cutting off Surpanakha’s nose? No? Then probably you need to update yourself. Ye to “It's her choice” ka zamaana hai. Sita Maiya ko feminist nahi, pseudo-feminist banana hai. 😟
Ravan performs pooja: Originating from the Ravan-is-God-claiming Sri Lankan version of the Ramayan, this is one of the hundred other reasons why “Siya ke Ram" can also be renamed as “Myths ka Ramayan”. 😐
Lakshman seeks Ravans blessings: Yet another glory to Ravan from the Sri Lankan version itself, where he apparently gives deathbed-gyaan to Lakshman, giving vibes of a typical Indian serial where you just can’t die at once. Only if you’d have given some gyaan to the makers too, O Deva! 🙏🏻
Sahastra Ravan: This one’s another beauty. Devsena aka Sita suddenly, out of nowhere, reaches the battlefield (which doesn’t look like one), turns into Mahakali, slays Sahastra Ravan and returns to Ashok Vatika. Then, Ram wakes up from his slumber and takes away all credit. #Creditkhor #WeNeedJustice 😬
On a side-note, this is a scene from the much-revered Adbhut Ramayan, but the timeline of this episode is highly distorted. As per the original, Shri Ram exalted Mata Sita’s greatness and valour, after she slayed the 1000-headed Ravan and reverentially paid his humble obeisances to the Mahakali form of hers, leave alone the thought of taking ‘credit’ for it. 😓 And, apart from this, the act of Mata Janaki slaying Sahastra Ravan takes place after their return to Ayodhya and not in the middle of her captivity, please. 🤦
Besides being factually inaccurate, the deliberate fitting of this scene in the midst of the war seems highly illogical too. 🙄
Lakshman’s death: As per the Uttar Kand of the Ramayan, Lakshman ji takes jal samadhi. But, nahi! Apne Lakshman jaisa to koi hard-ich nahi hai. He takes out a knife and boom! Gone! ✨
Even after watching only about 10 hand-picked episodes, I can stilk keep talking about the defects (read as “beauty”) of this serial till eternity, but, let’s keep it till here. Is it the worst or not? You decide…
Special thanks to Hotstar again, to let me read the summary of the episodes, to prevent my brain cell - devoid brain from blasting! 😅
If I hurt someone the am sorry dearie