# Arun Govil

Arun Govil (/ɑːˈruːn ˈɡoʊvɪl/ GOH-vil; Hindi:; born 12 January 1958) is an Indian actor and politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is best known for portraying Lord Rama in the Ramayan TV series and reprising his role as Lord Rama (voice acting) in the 1993 animated film, Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama. He also appeared in films like Paheli (1977), Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979), Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979), Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981), Himmatwala (1983), Dilwaala (1986), and Govinda Govinda (1994). He is currently serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha to Meerut Lok Sabha constituency from June 2024.

## Early life

Arun Govil was born on 12 January 1958, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He spent his teenage life in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He got his formal education at an affiliated college of Agra University situated in Shahjahanpur, where he studied science (BSc degree). His father wanted him to become a government servant while Arun wanted to do something for which he would be remembered.
Arun's father, Chandraprakash Govil, was a government officer. Arun is the fourth of six brothers and two sisters. His elder brother Vijay Govil was 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.

## Career

In 1975, 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. After doing dramas in college he decided to start 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. He made his Bollywood debut in Prashanta Nanda's Paheli (1977). He shot to stardom after he was cast in Kanak Mishra's Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979) and Satyen Bose's Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979). He made his small screen debut in Ramanand Sagar's Vikram Aur Betaal (1985). He was then cast as Lord Rama in Sagar's TV series Ramayan (1986), for which he won the Uptron Award in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category in 1988. He reprised his role as Rama in Sagar's Luv Kush and Padmalya Telefilms Limited's Jai Veer Hanuman Barjatya was really impressed by Govil's performance in the film and he signed him a three-film-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. Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin was another success at box office. He featured in Kanak Mishra's Jiyo To Aise Jiyo (1981).
Ramanand Sagar cast Govil as Vikramaditya in his television series Vikram Aur Betaal and Rama in Ramayan.
His role as Rama provided him great exposure and led him to be cast in other roles such as Harishchandra in the TV series Vishwamitra or Buddha in the TV series Buddha. He lent his voice as Rama in Yugo Sako's Indo-Japanese animation film Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama (1992). He also played the role of Laxman in V. Madhusudhana Rao's Lav Kush (1997). In the year 2020, he appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show as a guest along with Dipika Chikhlia, Sunil Lahri and Prem Sagar to promote book on late Ramanand Sagar.

## Personal life

Govil is married to actress Shrilekha. They have two children together, Sonika and Amal. Their daughter in law's name is Divya.
On 18 March 2021, he joined the Bhartiya Janata Party.

## Political career

Arun Govil was nominated as the Bharatiya janta party candidate for Meerut Lok Sabha constituency from Uttar Pradesh on 25 March 2024, to contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls. On 4 June 2024, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing Meerut Lok Sabha constituency.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Character | Notes |
| 1977 | Paheli | Balram | |
| 1979 | Sawan Ko Aane Do | Brij Mohan/Birju | |
| 1979 | Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin | Ajay S. Agarwal | |
| 1979 | Raadha Aur Seeta | Shekhar Verma | |
| 1980 | Judaai | Umakant S. Verma | |
| 1980 | Ganga Dham | Mohan | |
| 1981 | Jiyo To Aise Jiyo | Kundan Sharma | |
| 1981 | Itni Si Baat | Anand | |
| 1981 | Shradhanjali | Raju Kumar | |
| 1981 | Commander | Rakesh Kumar | |
| 1982 | Gumsum | Shankar | |
| 1982 | Ayaash | Amal | |
| 1982 | Sasural | Narendra | |
| 1982 | Jawalaa Dahej Ki | | |
| 1982 | Brij Bhoomi | | Braj Bhasha dialect film |
| 1983 | Kalka | Shibu | |
| 1983 | Lal Chunariya | | |
| 1983 | Himmatwala | Govind | |
| 1983 | Justice Chaudhury | Inspector Ramesh Chaudhary | |
| 1984 | Aasmaan | Doctor | |
| 1984 | Kanoon Meri Mutthi Mein | | |
| 1984 | Ram Tera Desh | Prakash | |
| 1985 | Karm Yudh | Rajesh | |
| 1985 | Do Dilon Ki Dastaan | Kamal | |
| 1985 | Yudh | Inspector Bhargav | |
| 1985 | Baadal | Thakur Kiran Singh | |
| 1985 | Lallu Ram | Shankar/Raju | |
| 1986 | Devar Bhabi | in Hindi & Bhojpuri | Actresses Shoma Anand (Hindi) & Upaasna Singh(Bhojpuri) |
| 1986 | Dilwaala | Mohan Kumar | |
| 1986 | Shatru | Salim | |
| 1986 | Nafrat | Vijay | |
| 1987 | Maashuka | Arun Verma | |
| 1989 | Bidhir Bidhan | | Odia film |
| 1989 | Pyari Dulhaniya | | Bhojpuri film |
| 1991 | Edu Kondalaswamy | Lord Venkateswara | Telugu film |
| 1992 | Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama | Lord Rama | voice only |
| 1992 | Shiv Mahima | Lord Shiva | |
| 1993 | Muqabla | Havaldar Satyaprakash | |
| 1994 | Govinda Govinda | Lord Venkateswara | Telugu film |
| 1994 | Kanoon | Pankaj | Vishal's brother |
| 1995 | Shanivrat Mahima | Bhagwan Indra/ Lord Venkestwara | |
| 1995 | Hathkadi | Arun Chauhan | |
| 1995 | Buk Bhara Bhalobasha | Soumitra Dutt | Bengali film |
| 1996 | Great Robbery | Lord Venkateswara | Telugu film |
| 1997 | Dhaal | Inspector Deodhar | |
| 1997 | Do Ankhen Barah Hath | | |
| 1997 | Lav Kush | Laxmana | |
| 1997 | Gaon Desh | Bade Chaudhary | Bhojpuri Film |
| 1999 | Upendra | Raja Vikramaditya | Kannada Film |
| 2006 | Babul Pyaare | Pandit Hari Singh | Bhojpuri Film |
| 2007 | Kanhaiyo | | Rajasthani Film |
| 2023 | Sergeant | Nikhil's Father | on JioCinema |
| 2023 | OMG 2 | Principal Atal Nath Maheshwari | |
| 2023 | Hukus Bukus | Pandit Radheshayam | |
| 2024 | 695 | | |
| 2024 | Article 370 | Prime Minister | Hindi Film |
| 2025 | Veer Murarbaji | Shahaji | Marathi film |
| 2026 | Ramayana Part 1 (film) | Dasharatha | Hindi, English |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | Vikram Aur Betaal | King Vikramāditya | |
| 1987-1988 | Ramayan | Lord Rama | |
| 1989 | Luv Kush | Lord Rama | |
| 1989 | Vishwamitra | Raja Harishchandra | |
| 1992 | Phoolwanti | Pandit Vankatesh Shastri | |
| 1994-95 | Mashaal | Ajay | |
| 1995 | Jai Veer Hanuman | Ram | |
| 1996- 1997 | Buddha | Buddha | |
| 1998-1999 | Ashiqui | Sushil | |
| 1999-2000 | Pal Chhin | Pratap Singh | |
| 2000-2001 | Basera | | |
| 2001 | Kaise Kahoon | Zaheer Ahmed | |
| 2002 | Saanjhi | Amar | |
| 2003 | Ehsaas - Kahani Ek Ghar Ki | | |
| 2003 | Gayatri Mahima | Rishi Chavan |
| 2006 | Woh Hue Na Hamare | Ravinder Damania |
| 2013 | Etv's Sri Bhagavatam | Vishnu | Telugu Mythological serial |
| 2023 | Jubilee | Narain Khanna | Amazon Prime Video series |