Under the lockdown, once Ramayan ended, we decided to continue the family get-together viewing sessions and watch old movies.
It was while watching the most sanskaari parivaar (no wonder it’s fictional) in Hum Saath Saath Hain that I came to a revelation bigger than finding Starbucks in Game of Thrones.
Because Hum Saath Saath Hain is Ramayan with all the extra characters removed, almost.
I don’t know if I am late to the party and everyone already knew this, or I am the only fool to believe this, but this discovery has truly blown my mind. And here are the similarities for your perusal:
1. In both cases, we have the eldest son, who is the picture of self-sacrifice and idealism, aka the OG adarsh balak.
2. In both the stories, it’s an outsider who influences the mother to have the eldest son exiled. Because property > parivaar.
Ramayan had Manthara and Hum Saath Saath Hain had the ‘teen titliyan’ who could not believe a family was as close-knit as the Chaturvedi’s.
3. We had the loyal AF middle brother who was not at home when the eldest brother is exiled.
And in both cases, they questioned their mother’s decision.
4. There is even a version of Bharat-milap in Hum Saath Saath Hain.
In Ramayan, Bharat leaves to meet Ram Ji and convince him to return and rule the kingdom as the rightful heir. Similarly, in Hum Saath Saath Hain, Prem meets Vivek and asks him to return home.
5. Much like in Ramayan where Bharat places Ram Ji’s paduka on the Royal throne, in Hum Saath Saath Hain Prem oversees the business but does not occupy the seat reserved for Vivek.
6. There is also the youngest, aggressive brother who decides to follow bade bhaiya to the ends of the world… figuratively, of course.
6. Hum Saath Saath Hain also incorporated the sacrifice of Laxman’s wife, but with a twist.
In the movie, Preeti, who is Prem’s fiance, has to sacrifice her love in the name of duty. Whereas in Ramayan, it was Laxam’s wife Urmila who spent 14 years apart from her husband.
7. Also, just like Ram Ji had the unwavering support of Hanuman, Vivek had the loyalty and friendship of Anwar.
Yes, of course, the movie was not an exact rip-off of Ramayan. But clearly, it had enough similarities to fall in the category of ‘heavily inspired’.
Ah well, unlike Hum Saath Saath Hain’s ABCD, at least no one got together to sing K, Kha, Ga, in Ramayan.
All images of Hum Saath Saath Hain are from Netflix.