Traditionally, Ramleela (or Ramlila) is the enactment of the popular Hindu mythology Ramayana through songs and skits. Ramlila is mostly associated with the festival of Dussehra, where the play usually ends with the recreating of the killing of the demon king, Raavana, by Lord Rama. Thus, the play ends with huge effigies of Raavana, along with that of his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghanatha, being burned by flaming arrows. The place where this is recreated is called Ramlila maidan. Dussehra 2019 Wishes: WhatsApp Messages, Ravan Dahan Images, Greetings and SMS For Vijayadashami.

The celebration of Ramlila has got such an iconic touch that even UNESCO in 2008 called it one of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity", and believe us, this is not a WhatsApp derived information. The occasion of Dussehra and Ramlila sequences have been part of quite a few movies in Bollywood, some of them starring popular names like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt etc. In this special feature, let's look at seven such movies where Ramlila and Raaavan vadh have been given crucial importance in the film.

Delhi-6

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's highly underrated ensemble social drama has this unusual idea to use Ramleela sequences to act as a sutradhar in the film.

While the repetition of these sequences, using Raghubir Yadav as the singer, becomes tedious at times, it does add to the surrealism of the film, that has the infamous 'Monkey Man of Delhi' as a narrative plot.

Swades

The villagers of Charanpur just love Ramayana. After all their hamlet has been named after the footprints of Lord Rama and Sita when they visited the place, as per the local legend. Which is why the Ramleela sequence during the "Pal Pal Hai Bhari" song has the entire village in full attendance.

The whole sequence has been beautifully choreographed and terrifically composed by AR Rahman (little trivia: director Ashutosh Gowariker lends his voice to one of the folk singers). Even more magical is Javed Akhtar's lyrics, especially in the portions that Shah Rukh Khan sings 'Ram Hi To Karuna Mein Hai, Shanti Mein Ram Hain ... Ram Hi Hai Ekta Mein, Pragati Mein Ram Hain...Ram Bas Bhakton Nahin, Shatru Ke Bhi Chintan Mein Hain...Dekh Taj Ke Paap Raavan, Ram Tere Man Mein Hain... Ram Tere Man Mein Hain, Ram Mere Mann Mein Hain … Ram To Ghar Ghar Mein Hain, Ram Har Aangan Mein Hain... Man Se Raavan Jo Nikale, Ram Uske Man Mein Hain …"

Lajja

Lajja, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, is an underrated gripping commentary on the treatment of women in the country. Featuring an ensemble cast, the segment that focuses on Madhuri Dixit Nene's Janki (the heroines of the film are named after monikers of Sita) is perhaps the most powerful of them all.

Janki, who plays Sita in a local troupe drama, sees parallels of her own life with that of the mythological character, when her lover suspects her of being unfaithful to her. The drama sequence that follows gives a new spin to the tale of Sita's Agnipareeksha, is a strong statement on questioning the patriarchal values of the society through the very legend that perpetuates it.

Tashan

Enough of being serious now. Let's take a break with this funny sequence from Yash Raj Film's Tashan, directed by Dhoom 3 and Thugs of Hindostan fame Vijay Krishna Acharya.

The sequence in this action-comedy marks the entry of the scene-stealing Akshay Kumar as Bachchan Pandey. He plays Raavan in the local Ramleela sequence, who makes a mess of it when he finds out his young neighbour plays Sita.

Raavan

No, not the Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan misfire. I am referring to the 1984 film that starred Smita Patil and Om Puri in the lead.

The movie is about a woman who undergoes Stockholm syndrome, when she develops affection towards her abductor, a cruel man, who slowly transforms under her love. The final sequence set during the occasion of Dussehra has the lovers meet a tragic end when a burning effigy of Raavan falls on them.

Kalank

This Karan Johar production is one of the biggest disappointments of 2019. Kalank, directed Abhishek Varman, is a period drama set during the partition era and features a multi-starrer cast in Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kiara Advani and Kunal Kemmu. While the movie is overall disappointing, one of the best scenes in the film is the "Ghar More Pardesiya" song sequence.

Picturised when the female lead reaches the forbidden town of Bahaar begum (Madhuri Dixit) to learning singing, and the entire town is celebrating Dussehra through street-wide enactment of Ramayana. The whole sequence is picturised in a dreamy manner, making you wish that the rest of the film could have been given the same treatment. Instead, we get this - Kalank: Varun Dhawan’s Fight Scene With a Badly CGI-Ed Bull Leave Fans in Splits – Read Tweets.

Dream Girl

Ayushmann Khurrana's Dream Girl is the biggest hit of the actor. In the movie, he plays a Mathura-based youngster, who has a knack of emulating a convincing female voice. This skill, however, restricts him to playing female characters in local dramas. Dream Girl Crosses The Rs 100 crore Mark; 10 Directors Who Achieved That Milestone With Their first film.

His most famous role happens to be Sita in Ramayana, and he is so popular playing the role, that the locals take blessings from him whenever they cross path.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 07, 2019 07:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).