# Jai Hanuman (1997 TV series)

Jai Hanuman is a 1997 Indian television series based on the life of the Hindu deity Hanuman, an avatar of Shiva, in Hindi. It was directed by Sanjay Khan. The series was initially shown on the state-run DD National, and was later shown on Sony Entertainment Television in 2008.

## Plot

In the Treta Yuga (2nd age), various events occur, including the defeat of demons by Lord Vishnu, which leads to the birth of positive and negative forces. One of the negative forces—the rise of demon dictator Ravana—plunges the universe into terror. The birth of God becomes necessary to eliminate the terror of Ravana, leading to the birth of two of the most powerful and mutually attached gods: Shri Rama and Hanuman, sons of Ayodhya's King Dashrath and the ape-headed King Kesari respectively. As time passes, the two meet and become close friends. Hanuman is a celibate monkey, dedicated friend, and brave warrior. Shri Ram is an ideal human being and an excellent warrior, whose love for Hanuman knows no bounds. Shri Ram asks Hanuman to perform worldly duties until the call of time. As time progresses, events described in Valmiki's Ramayan take place. During the war of Lanka, the war skills of human beings and monkeys (along with those of Shri Rama and Hanuman) lead to the end of demon warriors like Meghnad, Kumbhakarna, and Ravan. Shri Rama ultimately returns to Ayodhya, and Ramarajya comes into existence.
As time passes, friendship between Sri Rama and Hanuman grows, but after many dramatic events Shri Rama—along with his co-incarnated fellows Laxman, Sita, Shatrughna and Bharat—leaves Earth. They leave Hanuman alone to serve mankind. As time passes, the Dvapara Yuga (3rd age) arrives and Shri Rama, along with other incarnated souls, reincarnates as Shri Krishna to protect Dharma. Shri Krishna forms an alliance with Pandavas, the five Moral Brothers, against their 100 immoral cousins, the Kauravas. The third Pandava, Arjuna, is a friend and follower of Krishna. Shri Krishna makes Hanuman realise that he and his friend Shri Rama are the same, and asks him to support him in his mission Hanuman does so, and the events of Mahabharata take place. Before the war, Pandavas (on the advice of Shri Krishna) invokes Hanuman to help him in the upcoming war. Hanuman blesses them and takes a place in Arjuna's Chariot. The sermon of Bhagavad Geeta and the 18 Days Battle of Kurukshetra take place, leading to a victory for Dharma. Hanuman watches the bloodshed in silence. After many other dramatic events, the Dvapara Yuga ends and Shri Krishna leaves Earth.
As time passes, the Kali Yuga (4th age) arrives and all morality from Earth fades away. Hanuman takes the responsibility of sowing the seeds of Dharma along with spreading the fame of Sri Rama with the help of Goswami Tulsidas, who is the incarnation of Maharishi Valmiki. Goswami Tulsidas rewrites the Ramayana in the form of the Ramcharitmanas to help uplift the masses. Hanuman helps Goswami Tulsidas in every way, including helping to fade of the illusion of lust. Goswami Tulsidas and Hanuman are successful to some extent in their mission.
Tulsidas pleases Shri Rama and Lakshman and they give their Darshan, while Sita gives Darshan to Ratna, his wife. After a long period Tulsidas leaves for Vaikunth, and Hanuman carries on the responsibility of sowing the seed of morality all by himself.

## Cast

* Raj Premi as
** Hanuman: a great devotee of Rama
** Bhagwan Shiva: destroyer of the universe; Hanuman is his incarnation
* Kavin Dave as Child Hanuman / Child Raavan
* Siraj Mustafa Khan as Rama, 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu
* Shilpa Mukherjee / Meenakshi Gupta as Sita, Rama's wife; Goddess Lakshmi's incarnation
* Manish Khanna as
** Lakshman, Lord Ram's third brother
** Arjuna
* Phalguni Parekh as Añjanā, Hanuman's mother
* Deepak Jethi as Kesari, Hanuman's father / Angada, Vali's son(for few episodes)
* Upasana Singh as Mohini
* Anil Varma / Premchand Sharma as Surya
* Arup Pal as Indra, king of all gods
* Sharmilee Raj as Shachi, Indra Dev's wife
* Sagar Saini as Varuna, Hanuman's spiritual father
* Aseem Dixit as Agni
* Arif Khan as Angwahan
* Sunil Singh as Vishwamitra / Bhishma, grandfather of Pandavas and Kauravas both
* Vijay Arun as Vashishtha
* Tarun Kumar as Yagyavalkya
* Pradeep Sharma as Janaka, Sita's father
* Deep Dhillon as Dasharatha, Ram's father
* Riten Mukherjee / Rahul Khetarpal as Bharata, Lord Rama's second brother
* Hitesh Kumar as Shatrughna, Lord Rama's youngest brother
* Monika / Malavika Shivpuri as Urmila, Sita's sister, Lakshman's wife
* Raji Sharma / Anita Hassanandani as Mandavi, Sita's cousin, Bharat's wife
* Samreen Naaz / Gulrez Khan as Shrutakirti, Sita's cousin, Shatrughan's wife
* Anil Yadav as Ravana, King of Lanka who abducted Sita
* Sonia Kapoor as Mahagauri, Goddess Gauri/ Ganga, a river in India
* Saba / Sonia Kapoor as Mandodari
* Urmi Neqi /Jaya Mathur as Shurpanakha
* Arun Mathur as Shukracharya / Dhritrashtra, Father of Kauravas
* Brownie Parashar as Rahu / Mayasura / Sugriva, Vali's brother
* Anirudh Agarwal as Shambhrasur
* Roma Manek as Kaushalya, Ram's mother
* Maya Alagh as Kaikeyi, Bharat's mother
* Mangala Kenkare as Sumitra, Lakshman and Shatrughan's mother
* Sunny Singh as Child Ram
* Deepak Beri as Child Lakshman
* Tanmay Narvekar as Child Bharat
* Vinit Gadhia as Child Shatrughn
* Sudhir Mittoo as Vishnu
* Jaya Bhattacharya as Lakshmi
* Rohitash Gaud as Tulsidas
* Irrfan Khan / Sudhir Dalvi as Valmiki
* Mukesh Khanna as Bhagiratha, an ancestor of Lord Rama
* Chand Dhar as Sumali
* Anupam Shyam as Mali
* Sunil Bob Gadhavali as Malyavan
* Nimai Bali as Vayu / Vali / Duryodhana / Makardhwaja
* Raju Shrestha as Narada
* Rishabh Shukla as Manu Maharaj
* Arun Bali as Vishrava
* Utkarsha Naik as Kaikasi
* Amit Pachori as Angada
* Deepraj Rana as Nagmuni / Vibhishana
* Ritu Deepak as Sulochana
* Shamim Khan as Srimati Rajkumari
* Kumar Hegde as Vindyas
* Narendra Jha as Kubera
* Ravi Kishan as Krishna
* Raman Khatri as Parshurama / Indrajeet
* Govind Khatri as Gunasunder
* Ravi Chawala as Jatayu
* Mahendra Ghule as Kumbhakarna
* Shailendra Srivastav as Ahiravan
* Ramesh Tiwari as Mahiravana
* Kali Prasad Mukherjee as Shani / Kali
* Rahul Bhatt as Sujati
* Bhavesh Vora as Pragati
* Barkha Pandit as Punjiksthala
* Naveen Bawa as Priyadhar
* Sanjay Swaraj as Himavat
* Syed Badr-ul Hasan Khan Bahadur
* Kaushal Kapoor as Dushasana
* Vilas Raj as Kalanemi
* Vikrant Sokhi as Kuranjan, a minister of Sumali, Mali and Malyavan
* Balwant Bansal as Matangi
* Saba as Menaka
* Shamim Khan as Rambha

## Production

Created by Sanjay Khan, the series told the saga of Hanuman chronologically over 178 episodes. Jai Hanuman starred Raj Premi as Hanuman, Siraj Mustafa Khan as Shri Ram, Irrfan Khan as Maharishi Valmiki, and Manish Khanna as Lakshman. The series was produced by Sanjay Khan's production house, Numero Uno International.