Arun Govil (born 12 January 1958) is an Indian actor and politician. He became a household name for playing Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's Doordarshan series Ramayan (1987–88). He has acted in Hindi films and television for more than four decades. In 2024 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.
Arun Govil
Tv's Ram
12 Jan
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
Actor, Politician (Lok Sabha MP, Meerut)
Shrilekha Govil
1977–present
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (since 2024)
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
NA
Married
Capricorn
Indian Rupees
Vikram Aur Betaal (1985), Ramayan (1987–88), Luv Kush (1988–89)
Na
Indian
Govil made his film debut with Rajshri Productions' Paheli (1977) and played leading roles in family dramas such as Saawan Ko Aane Do (1979) and Saanch Ko Aanch Nahin (1979). He moved to television with Ramanand Sagar's Vikram Aur Betaal (1985), playing King Vikramaditya.
His role as Lord Ram in Sagar's Ramayan (1987–88) made him one of the most recognised faces in India. The series was re-telecast on Doordarshan during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and again drew very large audiences. He reprised Ram in Luv Kush (1988–89). Govil has said in interviews that the image of Ram made it hard for him to get other commercial film roles afterwards.
In later years he appeared in Article 370 (2024), playing the Prime Minister, and in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Part 1 (2026), in which he plays King Dasharatha, the father of Ram.
Govil joined the BJP in March 2021. The party fielded him from Meerut in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and he defeated Samajwadi Party candidate Sunita Verma by 10,585 votes, according to Election Commission of India results. He took oath in June 2024 and has spoken in the Lok Sabha on railways and on issues of the Meerut region.
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