Here, Ravindra Jain uses music to its fullest advantage. Indian storytelling in general (both in film and in religious sermons) has a tradition of mixing dialogue with songs. What also helps this series tremendously is the music by Ravindra Jain. The feeling conveyed in the television series is the feeling conveyed from a recital of the epic itself.
This gives "Ramayan" value not only to devout Hindus but also to students of Hindu religion and Indian epic poetry, both of whom can watch the series and get a good understanding of the works of Valmiki, Tulsidas, and others. "Ramayan" takes very little dramatic license and so what is presented on screen is an accurate presentation of the source texts. Sometimes, lines are directly quoted from Valmiki or Tulsidas and translated into Hindi. The dialogue might sound melodramatic to some (and sometimes it is), but the script is extremely faithful to the original texts that it is based off of. Every time I watch "Ramayan," I have a religious experience. This is a series that really has a heart and soul. Despite all of the above, "Ramayan" works incredibly well because one can sense that a great deal of devotion went into making it. But, what Ramanand Sagar (who, in my opinion, is otherwise a mediocre filmmaker) has done here is spectacular.
At times, it does look like a high school production. "Seeta Swayamvar" shows a much better production, even though it, too, was low-budget.) Some of the same actors are used repeatedly for various minor roles and voices. (Tollywood director Bapu's "Seeta Kalyanam" a.k.a. True, the production is quite obviously very low budget and it shows in the special effects and sets. Despite being dismissed by some as a cheap production with garish sets, cheesy special effects, and melodramatic dialogue, "Ramayan" was and continues to be a phenomenon. It's hard to believe that something like that is possible, but it really happened. Buses stopped running, religious services (Hindu and non-Hindu) were rescheduled, and everyone stopped what they were doing for 30 minutes every Sunday morning to watch the ancient Indian epic brought to life on television. When "Ramayan" aired, India (even then having a population over 900 million) came to a standstill.
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