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In fact, Dr Sagar's biggest asset was his writing skill which was
later reflected in his films and TV serials. Dr Sagar was adept
in Urdu, Sanskrit and Hindi and wrote the story and screenplay for
Raj Kapoor's film Barsaat.
 Ramayan
has been hailed as a modern day miracle and the media hailed its
creator Dr Ramanand Sagar as the modern day Valmiki and Tulsidas.
Ali Peter John of Screen (the international magazine) has
been quoted as saying that Sagar was born to make Ramayan
in Kaliyug at a time when it was needed most.
Dr Ramanand Sagar aka Chandramouli was born on 29 December 1917
in Asal-Guru-Ke near Lahore. He was born with a silver spoon in
his mouth - into one of the most aristocratic and wealthiest families
of Kashmir. His father Lala Dinanath Chopra enjoyed writing poetry
mainly for personal satisfaction under nome de plume "Taj Peshawari".
Chandramouli was adopted by a childless couple from his mother's
side and rechristened "Ramanand"; but fame and fortune
were destined for the nome de plume Sagar.
Dr Ramanand Sagar's first recorded work at the age of 16 was Pritam
Pratiksha (the wait for the beloved) for the Srinagar-based
Shri Pratap College's magazine. The editor was impressed but was
not convinced that Sagar actually authored the work. He wrote in
a footnote that "the editor could not vouch for the originality"
of the article.
Later on, Sagar had to struggle after he was thrown out of his
house by his adopted parents because he refused to accept the dowry
system.
 Sagar
worked as a peon, truck cleaner, soap vendor, gold smith apprentice
during the day and studied for his degree at night. He got a gold
medal from Punjab University (in Pakistan) and the title of "Munshi
Fazal" in Persian. Sagar also joined Daily Pratap and
later rose to become the news editor of Daily Milap - a leading
newspaper of Punjab (in Pakistan).
Sagar the writer: In a span of 12 years, Sagar wrote 32
short stories; three long-short stories, one novel, two serialised
stories and two stage plays. He wrote under the nom de plume "Ramanand
Chopra", "Ramanand Bedi", "Ramanand Kashmiri"
and finally "Ramanand Sagar".
In 1942, as a TB (tuberculosis) patient fighting with death in a
sanitarium in Tang-Marg, Sagar fought with grit and indomitable
will with death. And it was there that he wrote a subjective column
"Diary of a TB patient" serialised in Adab-e-Mashriq
- a highly rated magazine in the 1940s. It caught the fancy of the
literary world including the famous Krishen Chander and won him
wide acclaim.
Dr Sagar made a significant contribution to the literary world
between 1943-49.
1943 - Jwaar Bhata (High and low tide)
1944 - Ainey (mirrors); Jab Pahle Roz Baraf Giri (the
first day when it snowed)
1945 - Mera Hamdam, Mera Dost (My companion, my friend);
Radha
1948 - Goura (for a stage play enacted by thespian Prithviraj
Kapoor); Kalakaar
1949 - Phool Aur Kaante (flowers and thorns) - a collection
of 29 short stories
In 1947, Dr Sagar had to flee to Indian with his family. Penniless,
his only possessions at that time were five annas and a trunk full
of manuscripts that described the horrors and destruction, witnessed
by him during those turbulent times. These manuscripts were the
basis for his widely acclaimed novel Aur Insaan mar gaya.
In 1948, he wrote his life's masterpiece - the novel Aur Insaan
mar gaya depicting the horrors of the 1947 partition of India.
Acclaimed as an all-time classic in Urdu and Hindi literature, it
was translated into several Indian and foreign languages. The English
version And Humanity Died was published in 1987-88 by Arnold
Publishers (Delhi).
 Ramanand
Sagar the film maker: In 1936, Dr Sagar started his film career
with the silent movie Raiders of the Rail Road. In 1940-41,
he was signed as a leading man for the film Koel and as Abhimanyu
in an unfinished film Krishna at Shalimar Studio, Poona.
In 1942-43, he was invited by the then famous director Mehboob Khan
and also by the famous writers Krishen Chander and Monto to come
to Bombay. Dr Sagar stayed with actor Sajjan at his residence in
Malad. His entry into the world of films happened when he wrote
the story, screenplay for Raj Kapoor's super hit Barsaat.
In 1950, Dr Sagar launched his own production company Sagar Arts
and the first film was Mehmaan (the guest). In 1957, his
film Paigham (starring Dilip Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Vaijayanti
Mala) won the Filmfare award for the best dialogue and thus began
the golden period of his film career.
Dr Sagar's other strong points as a producer and director were
evergreen music, massive productions, spectacular locations and
big star casts. His group of companies produced over 25 motion pictures
till 1984 with over 15 of them being box office hits; some of them
crossed 75 weeks theatrically; and some have become evergreen hits
in the annals of Indian cinema. The blockbusters include silver
jubilees - six in a row - including Ghunghat, Zindagi, Aarzoo,
Geet, Lalkar, Hamrahi, Charas, Pyaara Dushman, Ram Bharose, Bhagawat
and a diamond jubilee Ankhen.
Sagar and television: In the mid 1970s, Dr Sagar and his
sons visited a French home and watched television together. The
realisation dawned that TV was the right medium to bring families
together to watch respectable programmes. Along with his sons, he
took the biggest stride in TV history nearly a decade later and
this move gave the entire family international recognition.
In 1985, the Sagar group were the first film family to enter the
TV software production. Starting with the mega-hit TV serial Vikram
aur Betaal; fairy tales such as Dada Dadi ki Kahaniyan;
mythological tales such Ramayan, Shri Krishna, Alif Laila, Jai
Ganga maiya, Gurukul and now Ankhen. The Sagar group
logged 2,000 hours of television software in 15 years.
In fact, Prem Sagar says that Sagar Arts contributes nearly Rs
3-4 million per month to Prasar Bharati in terms of telecast fees
for currently telecast programmes such as Ankhen, Ramayan, Jai
Ganga Maiya and Filmon ka Guldasta. "Our serial
Shri Krishna had contributed Rs 139 crore (Rs 1.3 billion)
to DD's coffers," says Prem Sagar.
The Indian government conferred the title of Padmashri on Dr Ramanand
Sagar in 2001; in 1996, he was honoured with Sahitya Vachaspati
(Doctor of Literature) by the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan (Prayag), Allahabad;
in 1997, Jammu University gave him a honoris causa doctorate (Doctor
of Literature).
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