Sankarabharanam
 |
Music and Dance were perceived as the lead characters of the movie |
Sankarabharanam ("The Jewel of Shiva") (
1979) is a
musical film in the
Telugu language, directed by
Dr. K. Vishwanath and produced by
Poornodaya Art Creations. It is widely considered to have caused a renaissance in both
Telugu and
Indian films. The popular playback singer of Telugu film industry, S.P.Balasubramanyam, gained accolades from this movie.
Viswanath gained national acclaim for this film, which triggered a sequence of other art movies in Telugu, including
Thyagayya (by
Bapu),
Meghasandesam (by Dasari N. Rao), and Viswanath's own follow-ups to
Sankaraabharanam:
Saagara Sangamam,
Sruthi Layalu,
Swarna Kamalam,
Sirivennela, and
Swathi Kiranam.
The movie is about a maestro of
Carnatic music who dedicates his life to music. He becomes a victim of western on-slaught of Indian culture and tradition. However he succeeds in passing on the priceless tradition to a worthy inheritor.
The music of this movie is considered to be one of the best to have ever emerged from Tollywood. When the movie was dubbed into other south Indian languages, the lyrics of the songs were considered untouchable and left alone!
The movie starts with an introduction by Viswanath,
"'SiSurvEtti paSurvEtti, vEtti gAna rasaM phaNihi' (Music is enjoyed equally by babies, animals and even snakes) We hope you appreciate our effort in bringing you the Jeeva Dhara of the Indian classical music."
"Shankarabharanam" Sankara Shastri is a very popular Carnatic singer.He bathes in the Sangeetha Rasaamrutham (Nectar of Music) with his nirantara saadhana (uninterrupted practice - riyaaz). People come in huge numbers to listen his voice and considered him to be a great man(As he lived a saintly life.)He has mastered the raga Sankaraabharanam.Tulsi(Manju) is a prostitute's daughter;but she is a very good woman who has great interest in music and dance. She is also an admirer of Shastri and also learns the great art(Classical music) from him;when he used to teach his daughter along the riverside.But;her mother wants her to follow the family profession ;prostitution.One day;a client(Who is a Zamindar) of her mother behaves in a dishonourable manner towards Tulsi and in order to save her honour;kills him.But due to that incident she becomes pregnant. She is sent to jail and no one tries to help her.But Shastri out of pity;tries to save her by consulting a lawyer who wins the case in Tulsi's favour.Now;Shastri brings her to his home;but the other people insult him as Tulsi is a murderer and of a low caste;while Shastri is a devout Brahmin.Tulsi moves out of his house as she does not want him to face insults because of her;but hopes to show her gratitude towards him.Ten years pass by. Western music now dominates in India and Shastri lost his audience.Hence;he now lives in a small house with his grown up daughter.When Tulsi comes to know of Shastri's plight; she tries to help him monetarily but gives the money through someone else(As she did not want others to tell that he depends on a prostitute to feed himself.) Now that Tulsi inherits all of her mother's property;she utilises all of it to help him.Now;she asks her son to go to Shastri's home and serve him and also learn classical music from him.After managing to get an entry to Shastri's home;he starts learning the great Indian classical music.Then;Chandramohan a musician falls inlove with Shastri's daughter.Although Shastri rejects the marriage proposal at first;he later agrees after knowing the man's interest in classical music. Now;Shastri comes across Tulsi after a long time and comes to know that the boy in his house is her son.She arranges a concert ;where Shastri once again finds his lost audience come back to see hear his voice and the carnatic music. Shastri feels himself happy and after finishing his performance;onstage he dies along with Tulsi;but not before passing over his heritage to Tulsi's son and thus the classical Indianmusic may flourish forever.
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Cast: JV Somayajulu, Manju Bhargavi and Allu Ramalingayya.
*
Dialogues:
Jandhyala*
Music:
KV Mahadevan*
Lyrics:
Veturi Sundarama Murthy*
Story, Screenplay & Direction:
Dr.K.Viswanath*
Producer: Edida Nageswara Rao for
Poornodaya Films.
*
List of Telugu films*
Sankara Bharanam - a review of the film from the Telugu film site
idlebrain.com*
IMDB linkSankaraabharanam (usually spelt Sankarabharanam) is also a
raga of
Carnatic music. It is the 29th of the
Melakarta ragas.
