Sankarabharanam (1980 film)

Sankarabharanam
Directed by	Dr.K.Viswanath
Written by	Dr.K.Viswanath
Produced by	Poornodaya Movie Creations
Starring	J.V. Somayajulu Manju Bhargavi Chandra Mohan
Cinematography	Balu Mahendra
Music by	KV Mahadevan
Release date	1979
Running time	143 min
Language	Telugu

For the Carnatic Rāga Sankarabharanam, see Dheerasankarabharanam.

Sankarabharanam (Telugu: శంకరాభరణం, English: Shankara's ornament) is a 'Golden Lotus' National Award Winning 1979 Telugu language musical film , directed by Dr. K. Vishwanath and produced by Poornodaya Movie Creations. It led to the revival of Indian classical music in Andhra Pradesh. The movie deals with two main issues - decline in popularity of Carnatic music and the teacher-student relationship. The movie is considered to be one of the best to have ever emerged from Telugu film industry.

Plot

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 Indian classical music."

"Sankarabharanam" Sankara Sastri is a very popular Carnatic singer. He is immersed in sangeetha rasaamrutha (Nectar of Music) with his nirantara saadhana (uninterrupted practice). People come in huge numbers to listen his voice and consider him a great man. He has mastered the raga Sankarabharanam, and hence is eponymous with the same. Tulasi (Manju) is a prostitute's daughter who has great interest in music and dance. She is also an admirer of Sastri and learns music from him when he used to teach his own daughter along the riverside. But her mother wants her to become a prostitute to earn money. One day a rich client of her mother's rapes Tulasi. He insults Sastri saying that now that he was done with Tulasi, she could go and flirt with Sastri all she wanted. Enraged by the disgrace towards Sastri, her guru, she kills the client. She is sent to jail and has also found out that she is pregnant. Sastri tries to save her by consulting a lawyer who wins the case in Tulasi's favour.

Then Sastri brings her to his home where other people insult him as Tulasi is a murderer and daughter of a prostitute while Sastri is a devout Brahmin. Tulasi 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, pop music is now popular in India and Sastri loses his classical music lovers. He now lives in a small house with his grown up daughter. When Tulasi comes to know of Sastri's plight she tries to help him monetarily but gives the money through someone else. Tulasi inherits all of her mother's property and utilizes all of it to help him. She also asks her son to go to Sastri's home and learn classical music from him. After managing to get an entry to Sastri's home, he starts learning Carnatic music from the maestro.

Chandra Mohan, a dilettante falls in love with Sastri's daughter. Although Sastri rejects the marriage proposal at first, he later agrees after knowing the man's interest in classical music. Tulasi,then arranges for a concert on the very day of his daughter's wedding, where Sastri once again finds his lost audience come back to see hear his voice. Sastri sings at the concert and halfway through it suffers a heart attack and finds his new disciple, Tulasi's son, take over the concert from him. As he watches him with pride, he also sees Tulasi and finds out that the boy is indeed, Tulasi's son. After the performance, he symbolically anoints the boy as heir to his music and dies.Tulasi comes to her guru and falls down at his feet and also passes away, that very moment, along with him. The film ends with both Sastri and Tulasi dead on the stage.

Reception

Box office performance

• The film released in only one theatre and opened to empty hall. But it later turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 1979 owing to the positive feedback from the audience.
• The film had a 216 day run at Royal theatre, Hyderabad.
• The success of this film 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.
• It was remade in Hindi as "Sur Sangam" (1986) with Jayaprada..
• The film Dubbed in Tamil and Malayalam as the same title.

Critical Reception

• Film critic Gudipoodi Srihari called it as the best Telugu film he has seen after Mayabazar.

Sound Track

Music was composed by K.V. Mahadevan.

Song	Singer	Lyricist
Omkaranadhanu	S. Janaki, S.P. Balasubramaniam	Veturi Sundararama Murthy
Raagam Taanam Pallavi	S.P. Balasubramaniam	Veturi Sundararama Murthy
Shankaranatha Shariravara	S.P. Balasubramaniam
Yey Tiruga Nanu	Vani Jayaram	Bhadrachala Ramadaasu
Brocheevaarevaruraa	S.P. Balasubramaniam, Vani Jayaram	Mysore Vasudevachari
Manasa Sancharare	S.P. Balasubramaniam, Vani Jayaram
Samaja Varagamana	S. Janaki, S.P. Balasubramaniam	Veturi Sundararama Murthy
Maanikya Veena	S.P. Balasubramaniam
Paluke Bangaramaiana	S.P. Balasubramaniam, Vani Jayaram	Bhadrachala Ramadaasu
Dorakuna Ituvanti Seva	S.P. Balasubramaniam, Vani Jayaram	Veturi Sundararama Murthy

Awards

• National Film Award - Golden Lotus Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment (1980)
• National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1980) - K. V. Mahadevan
• National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer (1980) - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
• National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer (1980) - Vani Jayaram

Trivia

• The character of Sankarabharanam Shastry was reportedly based on Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Panthulu;who was the guru of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna.

External links

• Sankara Bharanam - a review of the film from the Telugu film site idlebrain.com
• Legend Sankarabharanam
• IMDB link