| Kaviratna Kalidasa | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Renuka Sharma |
| Produced by | V. S. Govinda |
| Starring | Rajkumar Jaya Prada Balakrishna Srinivasa Murthy |
| Cinematography | V. K. Kannan |
| Edited by | P. G. Mohan |
| Music by | M. Ranga Rao |
Production company | Anandalakshmi Enterprises |
| Distributed by | Vajreshwari Combines |
Release date |
|
Running time | 189 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada |
Kaviratna Kalidasa (pronunciationⓘtransl. Poet Kalidasa) is a 1983Kannada-languagehistorical drama film based on the life ofKālidāsa, a renownedClassical Sanskrit writer of the 4th Century A.D. The film was directed byRenuka Sharma and produced by V. S. Govinda. The film starsRajkumar, portraying the title role ofKalidasa, along withJaya Pradha in the role of Vidyadhare andSrinivasa Murthy as Raja Bhoja.
The film is considered to be one of the all-time top money-grossingfilms in the history ofKannada movies. It was distributed byParvathamma Rajkumar under theVajreshwari Combines banner. The movie saw a theatrical run of 25 weeks[3] in 19 theatres.[4]
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The kingdom's chief minister wants his son to marry the king's daughter, Princess Vidyadhare. When he expresses his wish to the king, he is ridiculed. Instead, the king orders him to search for a "Sakala Vidya Paarangatha" groom for his daughter. Vowing to take revenge against the insult, the minister goes in search of a foolish groom.
Kalidasa, a humble shepherd is shown rearing his sheep. Convinced of his stupidity, the minister charms Kalidasa to accompany him to the palace, so that Kalidasa can marry the princess. Coached by the minister, Kalidasa excels in the tests conducted by Vidyadhare (Jaya Prada). The minister is shrewd enough to teach a key sentence to Kalidasa. If he can't answer a question, Kalidasa must utter "heluvudakku, keluvudakku, idu samayavalla" ("This isn't the right time to question or answer.")
Vidyadhare is fooled by Kalidasa's brilliance and marries him. However, the truth comes out during the first night. Shattered, Vidyadhare locks Kalidasa in the palace temple and gets him to demand "vidyaabuddhi" (knowledge and wisdom) from the goddessKali. In a mystical scene, Vidyadhare loses consciousness, Goddess Kali appears and blesses Kalidasa with vidyabuddhi, who composes theShyamala Dandakam song in praise of the goddess. Kalidasa is shown walking away from the palace-temple, implying his casting off his earlier ignorance and walking away from his previous life. Vidyadhare regains consciousness and goes in search of her husband.
Kalidasa, now a renowned poet, is one of theastadiggajas (eight great poets includingDaṇḍin) in the court of King Bhoja (Srinivasa Murthy), much to the ire of the elder poetMusuri Krishnamurthy. Bhoja pleads with his dear friend Kalidasa to write acharama geethe (funeral song) for him. Kalidasa refuses since Bhoja is sure to die once he hears the song. Vidyadhare assumes the name Kaladhare, rests at a prostitute Ratnakala's home and catches Kalidasa's attention. Vidyadhare is pleased to see her husband, but Kalidasa is unaware of his former life. Kalidasa composes his best workAbhignaana Shaakuntala with romantic interests on Vidyadhare.
Bhoja can't bear the fact that his aptamitra (an intimate friend) Kalidasa is in the company of a prostitute. The differences lead to Kalidasa parting ways with Bhoja and walking out of his court. Dimdima kavi, who is blessed with a dindima from the goddessSaraswati, throws a literary challenge to Bhoja's ashtadiggajas, asking them to complete his shloka with the answer. Bhoja recalls his friend, when none can answer the question, kamale kamlotpattitih (lotus is born in a lotus). Shamed Bhoja announces that he will donate half of his kingdom to anyone who solves the puzzle. Ratnakala gets the answer from Kalidasa and poisons him. She walks into royal court, to claim half kingdom. She answers, "Eye lotuses in the face lotus of my lady."
Dimdima kavi, who could silence herds of laureates with his dimdima, catches her fault, asking when she is a lady, how can she say "my lady." He announces that other than Kalidasa no one can answer this puzzle. Bhoja rushes the guards to Kalaadhare's house, only to find the dead body of Kalidasa. Bhoja also learns the truth from Vidyadhare: Kalidasa was her husband. Bhoja pledges to Vidyadhare that he'll get her husband back to her and prays to the goddess Kali to donate his half life to Kalidasa. When Kalidasa awakens, Bhoja hides himself and tricks him to sing "charama geethe." Bhoja dies once his friend has completed the song.
The onus is now on Kalidasa to get his friend back to life; the only way is the divine intervention. He prays his heart out to the goddess Kali, who is touched by the love and affection Kalidasa and Bhoja bestow on each other. The goddess blesses both Kalidasa and Bhoja with long lives. The movie ends with Kalidasa reuniting with Vidyadhare.
The music for the film was composed byM. Ranga Rao and the lyrics of all the songs were written byChi. Udaya Shankar ( except forShyamala Dandaka written by Kalidasa which was used forManikyaveena song).[2] Rajkumar who was impressed byMehdi Hassan's ghazalNawazish Karam Shukriya,[5] asked the music director to recreate the song which resulted inSadaa Kannale.[6] The movie also included a sequence where all themajor works of Kalidasa are remembered.[7]
| Kaviratna Kalidasa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Genre | Feature Film Soundtrack | |||
| Language | Kannada | |||
| Director | M. Ranga Rao | |||
| M. Ranga Rao chronology | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Maanikyaveenam Upalalayanthim" (Lyrics:Kalidasa) | Dr. Rajkumar | 7:32 |
| 2. | "Belli Mooditho" | Dr. Rajkumar | 3:57 |
| 3. | "Sadaa Kannale" | Dr. Rajkumar,Vani Jairam | 4:00 |
| 4. | "Alabyad Kane Sumkire" | Dr. Rajkumar | 3:14 |
| 5. | "O Priyathama" | Dr. Rajkumar, Vani Jairam | 6:07 |
| Total length: | 24:39 | ||
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