Arun Govil

Arun Govil was born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.[15] He got his formal education at Meerut University, where he studied engineering science and acted in some plays.[15] He spent his teenage life in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father wanted him to become a government servant while Arun wanted to do something for which he would be remembered.[6]

In 1975, at the young age of 17, he moved to Mumbai to join his brother's business there. After a short while, he found that he no longer enjoyed the work and decided to find something more enjoyable.[6] After doing dramas in college he decided upon acting. Govil got his first break in Indian cinema in the 1977 film Paheli, when he was introduced to Tarachand Barjatya by his sister-in-law Tabassum.[8] Barjatya was really impressed with Govil's performance in the film and he signed him a three-films-deal — Kanak Mishra's Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979), Vijay Kapoor's Raadha Aur Seeta (1979) and Satyen Bose's Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979). Sawan Ko Aane Do became a major success at box office catapulting Govil to stardom.[9] Raadha Aur Seeta was a box office failure while Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin was another success at box office.[10] He featured in Kanak Mishra's Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981) which was the 30th biggest hit of that year.[16]

Ramanand Sagar cast Govil as Vikramaditya in his television series Vikram Aur Betaal and Rama in his highly successful television series Ramayan, for which he won the Uptron Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" in 1988.

His role as Rama provided great exposure to him and led to him being cast in other religious-based roles, including Harishchandra in Vishwamitra (TV series) and Buddha in TV series Buddha. Arun Govil has worked in movies of several languages. He has worked in Oriya movies like Bidhira Bidhan (1989) and many Telugu movies like Edu Kondalaswamy (1991), Govindha Govindha (1993), The Great Robbery (1996) and Aa re Kaaliya. He has also got an opportunity to anchor a show on lord Ram, Jahan Jahan Ram Charan Chali Jaahi. He also lent his voice in 1992 mythological Indo-Japanese animation movie Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama as Lord Rama.[13]

He later set up a production company with his Ramayan co-star Sunil Lahiri. He produced and acted in Mashaal, a TV series based on the Indian independence movement. His wife Shrileikha acted and co-produced the show as well.

Arun Govil is the fourth of six brothers and two sisters. His elder brother Vijay Govil is married to Tabassum, a former child actress and the host of the first Bollywood Celebrity talk show on Doordarshan Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan, which continued for 21 years. His nephew is Film and TV actor Hoshang Govil (Son of Vijay and Tabassum Govil). His father Shri Chandra Prakash Govil was a government officer. Govil is married to actress Shrilekha, with whom he has a son and a daughter.[3]

• List of Indian television actors

• Arun Govil on IMDb