Sankarabharanam
Directed by	Dr.K.Viswanath
Produced by	Poornodaya film creations
Written by	Dr.K.Viswanath
Starring	J.V. Somayajulu Manju Bhargavi Chandra Mohan
Music by	KV Mahadevan
Cinematography	Balu Mahendra
Release date(s)	1979
Running time	143 min
Language	Telugu
IMDb profile

Sankarabharanam (Telugu: శంకరాభరణం,English: Shankara's ornament) is a 1979 musical film in the Telugu language, directed by Dr. K. Vishwanath and produced by Poornodaya Art Creations. It led to the revival of Indian classical music in Andhra Pradesh.The movie deals with 2 relevant topics-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. When the movie was dubbed into other south Indian languages, the lyrics of the songs were not translated into those languages. Sankarabharanams EVP File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Padma Shri Dr. Kasinadhuni Viswanath, popularly known as K.Vishwanath, is a Telugu movie maker whose contributions have been significant to Indian film from the Telugu film industry. ... J.V. Somayajulu (1928 - April 27, 2004) was an Indian film actor. ... K. V. Mahadevan is a South Indian music composer. ... Balu Mahendra is a film director from South India. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Telugu redirects here. ... Carnatic music, also known as is one of the two styles of Indian classical music, the other being Hindustani music. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Telugu redirects here. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... Padma Shri Kasinadhuni Viswanath, popularly known as K. Vishwanath, is a Telugu movie maker whose contributions have been significant to Indian films from the Telugu film industry. ... Andhra redirects here. ...

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 the Indian classical music."

"Shankarabharanam" Sankara Shastri is a very popular Carnatic singer. He is immersed in the Sangeetha Rasaamrutham (Nectar of Music) with his nirantara saadhana (uninterrupted practice). People come in huge numbers to listen his voice and considered him to be a great man. He has mastered the raga Sankaraabharanam. Tulasi(Manju) is a prostitute's daughter who has great interest in music and dance. She is also an admirer of Shastri and also learns music from him when he used to teach his 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 behaves in a dishonourable manner towards Tulsi and in order to save her honour, she kills him. But due to that incident she becomes pregnant. She is sent to jail and no one tries to help her. But Shastri tries to save her by consulting a lawyer who wins the case in Tulsi's favour.

Now Shastri brings her to his home where other people insult him as Tulasi 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 has lost his audience. 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. Now that Tulasi inherits all of her mother's property and utilises all of it to help him. She also asks her son to go to Shastri's home and learn classical music from him. After managing to get an entry to Shastri's home, he starts learning the Indian classical music from the maestro. Then Chandramohan a musician falls in love 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 Tulasi 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. Shastri sings at the concert and after finishing his performance, he dies along with Tulasi (who has a heart attack from the shock of his passing). The mantle has now been passed to Tulasi's son and thus his legacy of classical Indian music is preserved.Sankarabharanam is rated as the 2nd best film of K.Vishwanath by telugu movie website Fresh and Rotten

Reception

Box office performance

• The film released in only one theatre and opened to empty hall.^[1] 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.^[2]
• 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^[3].
• It was remade in Hindi as Sur Sangam ^[4].
• The film Dubbed in Malayalam as the same title.

, For other uses, see Hyderabad. ... Sattiraju Lakshmi Narayana, also known as Bapu was born on 14th of December in 1933 in Narsapur, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. ... Meghasandesam (often spelled as Megha Sandesam or Meghasandesham) is an Indian Telugu language movie directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. ... Saagara Sangamam (The Confluence) (1983) is a Telugu film directed by K. Viswanath. ... Swarna Kamalam is a 1988 Telugu film written and directed by K. Viswanath. ... Sirivennela is a Telugu movie based on Indian Classical Music and was released in India in 1986. ... Swathi Kiranam (1990) is a Telugu film made by Dr.K.Viswanath. ...

Critical Reception

• Film critic Gudipoodi Srihari called it as the best film he has seen after Mayabazar.^[5]

Mayabazar is a Telugu film first released in the Andhra Pradesh, India on March 27, 1957, produced by B.Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani. ...

Awards

• National Film 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

The National Film Award (Golden Lotus Award) for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment winners: Category: ... The National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Music Direction winners: Category: ... K. V. Mahadevan is a South Indian music composer. ... The National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback Singer winners: See also Category: ... Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, (Telugu:బాల సుబ్రమణ్యం) is a prolific Indian singer. ... The National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Female Playback Singer winners: See also Categories: ... Vani Jayram is one of the major female playback singer in India. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The character of Sankarabharanam Shastry was reportedly based on Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Panthulu^[6];who was the guru of Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna (transliterated variously as M. Balamuralikrishna, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, M. Balamurali Krishna; Telugu: మంగళంపల్లి బాలమురళిక్రిష్ణ) (b. ...

Footnotes

External links

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