''Bhakta Kumbara'' () is a 1974 Indian

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

directed by

Hunsur Krishnamurthy Hunsur Krishnamurthy (9 February 1914 – 13 February 1989) was an Indian playwright, film director, producer, actor, screenwriter and lyricist in Kannada cinema. He worked with noted theatre personalities early in his career; Gubbi Veeranna, ...

. The film stars Rajkumar and Leelavathi. Actress

Sridevi Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan (13 August 1963 – 24 February 2018), professionally credited with her stage name Sridevi, was an Indian actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada language films. Cited as the "First Fem ...

essayed the role of Muktha Bai (as a child artist), thereby the latter making her Kannada film debut. The film was produced by N. R. Anuradha Devi under Lakshmi Film Combines. Bhakta Kumbara marked the eighth collaboration between Dr. Rajkumar and director

. The movie is based on the life of

Gora Kumbhar Sant Gora Kumbhar (also known as Goroba) was a Hindu '' sant'' associated with the Bhakti movement and the Varkari sect of Maharashtra, India. He was a potter by trade and devotee of Vithal. Gora Kumbhar, along with other saints, wrote and sun ...

, a potter turned into a saint who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries in Teredoki village. He supposedly lost his child while curing the clay by his legs for making pots, because he did not notice his child fumbling under his feet as he immersed himself in chanting the name of God. He was called Saint Gora Kumbara by the people of Maharashtra. The film won three awards at the 1974-75 Karnataka State Film Awards - Third Best Film,

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

(Rajkumar) for his portrayal of the potter-turned-saint

and Best Music Director (

G. K. Venkatesh Gurusala Krishnadas Venkatesh (21 September 1927 – 17 November 1993) was an Indian film score composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema during the 1960s, 1970s and until the late-1980s. He also composed music for Telugu, Malayalam and Ta ...

). The movie saw a theatrical run of 175 days and was declared a ''Blockbuster'' at the box office. ''Bhakta Kumbara'' is the second Kannada film based on the life of Gora Kumbhar with the first being ''Gora Kumbara''(1960). The movie was dubbed in Hindi as ''Bhakti Main Bhagwan''. The movie was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

in 1977 by

V. Madhusudhana Rao Veeramachineni Madhusudhana Rao (27 July 1917 – 11 January 2012) was an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is popularly known as ‘Victory’ Madhusudhana Rao. He directed ...

as '' Chakradhari'' starring

Akkineni Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

was the music director of the Telugu version as well and he retained four songs from the Kannada version.

Cast

* Rajkumar as Gora * Leelavathi as Gora's wife *

Rajashankar Raja Shankar or Rajashankar was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. His films include ''Bhakta Kumbara'' (1974), ''Sampathige Saval'' (1974) and ''Sri Srinivasa Kalyana'' (1974). He also co-produced the 1974 Kannada movie ''Bangaarada Panjara'' s ...

as St. Namadev *

Balakrishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

as Gora's Neighbor * Vajramuni as Krishna, Gora's relative *

Dwarakish Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath (born 19 August 1942), better known as Dwarakish ( ), is an Indian actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. He was given the name Dwarakish by Kannada film maker C. V. Shivashankar. Early life D ...

as Gora's neighbor * Kanchana *

M. N. Lakshmi Devi M. N. Lakshmi Devi is a veteran film artist in Kannada films. She is from Chintamani and has had a career of 7 decades. She has acted in more than 700 films. Devi is known for the movies " Bhakta Kanakadasa"(1960), "Bangaarada Manushya"(1972), ...

* Ramesh as Lord Panduranga/Gora's caretaker * Thoogudeepa Srinivas as Village head * Manjula as Gora's Sister in law * Sampath as Gora's Father in law * Shanimahadevappa as St. Gnanadev * H. R. Shastry * Joker Shyam *

as Muktha Bai, St. Namadeva's sister

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by

with lyrics penned by

and

Chi. Udaya Shankar Chitnahalli Udayashankar (18 February 1934 – 2 July 1993; born in Chitnahalli) was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional songs. Hi ...

. 4 songs from this movie were retained in its Telugu remake '' Chakradhari'' which also had music composition by

. #''Manava Dehavu Moole Mamsada Thadike'' was retained as ''Mavava Amunnadi Deham'' #''Vitala Vitala Panduranga Vitala'' was retained as ''Vitala Panduranga Vitala'' #''Hari Namave Chanda'' was retained as ''Harinamame Madhuram'' #''Kande Hariya Kande'' was retained as ''Kanugontini Harini''

Track list

References

External links

* * {{Hunsur Krishnamurthy 1974 films 1970s Kannada-language films Indian biographical films Kannada films remade in other languages Films scored by G. K. Venkatesh Films set in the 13th century Films set in the 14th century 1970s biographical films Films directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthy