Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana remains one of the most remembered television shows in India, but its journey to the screen reportedly involved an unexpected setback.
Lalit Modi Recalls Disney Meeting With Ramanand Sagar
Lalit Modi has claimed that Ramanand Sagar and BR Chopra had approached him for financial support for their respective television projects. At the time, Modi was associated with Disney and had developed an ecosystem for marketing, production and worldwide content distribution.
Speaking on The Bharat Inc YouTube channel, Modi said he wanted Disney to enter production and suggested a co-production with Sagar. However, Disney was initially reluctant, citing a possible conflict between producing content and selling its programming.
Modi continued to push for the project and told Disney executives that Sagar was seeking Rs 1 crore, which could give the company access to the show's rights. Eventually, Disney's senior executives travelled to India for a meeting with Sagar.
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Ramanand Sagar's Appearance Failed To Impress Disney
Speaking on the podcast, Modi recalled that Sagar arrived at the meeting wearing shorts. He claimed that Disney executives were particular about appearances at the time and that Sagar's presentation did not create the impression they had expected.
Modi also said there were communication difficulties during the interaction, as Sagar had some difficulty with English, while the Disney representatives could not fully understand his pitch. According to Modi, the executives were accustomed to sophisticated presentations and struggled to understand how an Indian mythology-based television show could succeed.
Modi said the Disney president appeared ready to leave the meeting, leaving him with limited scope to convince his business partner.
How Disney Hour Helped Lalit Modi Build His Business
Modi further claimed that his association with Disney led to the creation of Disney Hour on Doordarshan, which helped bring Disney content to Indian households. He said the initiative was also connected to his merchandising business, as television programming helped promote Disney products.
He recalled that he brought DuckTales to Doordarshan in 1993 and made 127 trips between Los Angeles and India while working on the Disney deal. He said the absence of computers, phones and other forms of entertainment gave children's programming a strong market at the time.
According to Modi, Doordarshan charged a fixed fee for the programming slot, while advertising revenue generated additional income. He claimed his first-year profit from the business was Rs 21 crore.
Lalit Modi's Aladdin Setback
He also recalled a business mistake involving Disney's Aladdin. While The Lion King was becoming a major international success in 1994, he chose to release Aladdin in India, where it was dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
The film failed at the Indian box office as audiences were more interested in The Lion King. Modi recalled that Disney chairman Michael Eisner told him the setback had brought him “back down to earth.”
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