‘Sai Pallavi’s phenomenal but don’t know how she’ll look like Sita’: Deepika Chikhalia

Deepika Chikhalia, who played Sita in Ramanand Sagar's iconic Ramayan television series, has said she considers Sai Pallavi a phenomenal actor but is unsure whether she will look the part in Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming film Ramayana.

In a conversation with Variety India, Chikhalia pointed to the specific physical description of Sita in Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas and questioned whether the casting fits that image, while also noting that the original series remains too fresh in public memory for any adaptation to easily replace it. She also revealed that playing Sita in 1987 cost her a career, saying she still struggles to find work because the industry has never been able to see her as anyone else.

"She's a phenomenal actor. But I don't know how she'll look like Sita. Once we see her, we'll know," Chikhalia said of Sai Pallavi. She pointed to the description of Sita in the Ramcharitmanas, which specifies almond-shaped eyes, a particular height and certain features, and said that was exactly what Ramanand Sagar had looked for when he cast her in 1987. She also noted that Sita is not described as having curly hair in the text, a comment that was widely read as a pointed reference to Sai Pallavi's natural curls.

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On Arun Govil, her co-star from the original series who has been cast as King Dashrath in Tiwari's film, Chikhalia was more reflective. She said both she and Govil are defined by the roles they played over three decades ago, and questioned why anyone would want to let go of that identity. "I'm known as Sita. Sometimes people forget my name, but they remember that I played Sita. That's my identity. I don't know why anybody would want to lose that," she said.

Chikhalia was candid about how playing Sita affected her career. She said the role that made her a household name also effectively ended her prospects as an actor. The industry could not see her as anyone else, and the offers stopped. "I didn't get any work. In fact, I'm asking people for work even now," she said. She contrasted her experience with that of today's leading actors, pointing to Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Lord Rama in Tiwari's film, as someone who has moved freely between characters like Barfi, Sanju and Animal without being boxed in. "That's the beauty of today's time. It wasn't like that during our days. We all got typecast. It's still very tough to get work because people can't see me as anyone else. That's why I got into production," she said.

On Yash being cast as Ravana, Chikhalia said she has seen some of his work and expects him to be "dynamic." But she returned to her central point: the original series is too recent in public memory for any adaptation to easily replace it. She noted that Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan was re-aired on Doordarshan during the 2020 pandemic lockdown and was watched by an entirely new generation, which only reinforced its hold on the collective imagination. "Had the film come out 50 years later, people would have forgotten Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan and the cast. Right now, it's still very fresh in their minds," she said.

Chikhalia summed up her own takeaway from the experience in a single line. "Ramayan taught me that nothing can buy you success except hard work and good luck," she said. She had been working on regular television shows like Dada Daadi Ki Kahani and Vikram Aur Betaal before Ramayan. Nobody expected the series to become what it did. "I realised that you have to put in the hard work, there's no doubt about that, but God's blessings are also important," she said.

Part 1 of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Sunny Deol as Hanuman and Arun Govil as King Dashrath, is scheduled for release on Diwali 2026. Part 2 is planned for Diwali 2027.

The film's trailer was scheduled to release on July 24 but has now been postponed.