''Sagara Sangamam'' () is a 1983 Indian Telugu-language

dance film A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a film in which dance is used to reveal the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and formal concerns. In such films, ...

written and directed by K. Viswanath and produced by

Edida Nageswara Rao Edida Nageswara Rao (24 April 1934 – 4 October 2015) was an Indian film producer in Telugu cinema. He owned the film production house Poornodaya Movie Creations in Tollywood. He produced '' Sankarabharanam'', ''Swayam Krushi'', ''Siri Si ...

. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jaya Prada,

Sarath Babu Sathyam Babu Dixithulu (born 31 July 1951), known by his stage name Sarath Babu, is an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He has worked in more than 200 films. He has appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada a ...

, S. P. Sailaja and

Chakri Toleti Chakri Toleti is an Indian American business executive who is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of care.ai, a health technology company. Before this, Toleti was the Founder and President of HealthGrid, an enterprise patient engag ...

. Upon release, the film received positive reviews and became a box office hit. The film has received two National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and the

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film This is the list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Feature Films since 1964. Best Feature Film - Gold Second Best Feature Film - Silver Third Best Feature Film - Bronze References See also * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh {{DEFAULTSORT:Na ...

(Bronze). The film is listed among

CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internat ...

's list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time. The film was dubbed into

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and released as ''Salangai Oli'' and ''Sagara Sangamam'' respectively. Kamal Haasan had lent his voice for all three versions. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India in 1984, retrospective in 2011 and ''Celebrating Dance in Indian cinema'' section in 2014. The film was dubbed into Russian, and was screened at the

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

Asia Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first held in Tok ...

and AISFM Film Festival. ''Salangai Oli'' was released on the same day as ''Sagara Sangamam''.

Plot

Balakrishna, fondly called Balu, is an economically disadvantaged but multi-talented dancer, adept at the Indian classical dances of Kuchipudi,

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

, etc. His simple and very honest soul does not permit him to attain professional success in the commercial world that requires a certain level of moral laxness. Madhavi, a wealthy young woman and a dance patron, notices his talent and acts as his benefactor, helping him secure an opportunity to participate in a high-level classical dance festival. Balu's aging mother passes away from the afflictions of poverty two days before the performance. Balu, who was very attached to her, is emotionally devastated and fails to participate in the dance festival. Madhavi nevertheless, gives him support and encouragement and sets him on the mend. Balu gradually develops a fondness for Madhavi as their relationship grows. He hides his love for her but eventually picks up the courage to express it. Balu discovers that, while Madhavi shares his feelings, she is a married woman separated from her husband. The husband later returns to unite Madhavi and Balu, but Balu decides to sacrifice his love showing respect for the institution of marriage. The years pass, and Balu, a disappointed man, has become an inconsolable alcoholic and a newspaper journalist/art critic. Once he critiques a dancer Sailaja for her lack of concentration on the dance and more towards the audience, which results in them having a fight. This article is in-turn read by Madhavi who turns out to be Sailaja's mother, who has lost her husband in this time. She finds out about Balu, his medical condition and his never ending love for her and her family. In a bid to revive his will to live and his passion for his art, she tends to his medical needs through his friend Raghu and solicits Balu to be the dance master for her daughter. And doesn't come in front of him worried that he wouldn't be able to cope up with the news of being a widow, but situation arises where she needs to save him from falling into a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, she comes in front of him wearing a bindi (similar to wearing a Sindhoor). Later he learns the truth about her and his condition deteriorates. The film ends with Sailaja's stage performance with Balu watching her in a wheelchair, his health completely deteriorated, and he dies. Raghu is seen taking him away quietly, without interrupting the performance. Madhavi follows him with an umbrella covering Balu from the rain.

Cast

* Kamal Haasan as Balakrishna "Balu" * Jaya Prada as Madhavi *

as Ragupathy * S. P. Sailaja as Sailaja, Madhavi's daughter *

Sakshi Ranga Rao Sakshi Ranga Rao (born Rangavajhula Ranga Rao; 15 September 1942 – 27 June 2005) was an Indian character actor who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He appeared in about 450 films over a career spanning four decades, majority of ...

as Balu's uncle *

Dubbing Janaki Dasari Janaki, known professionally as Dubbing Janaki, is an Indian actress and voice artist. She has appeared in several films and television shows in various South Indian languages. Early life Janaki was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari D ...

as Balu's mother *

as Teen photographer *

Potti Prasad Potti Prasad (born Kavivarapu Prasada Rao) was an Indian actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He was introduced to the films by Jandhyala. His notable roles include Chantabbai and Sagara Sangamam. He made his screen debut with Appu ...

as Madhavi's servant * S. K. Misro as Film choreographer *

Manju Bhargavi Manju Bhargavi (born 1955) is an actress and dancer, best known for her performance in the Telugu blockbuster film Sankarabharanam (1979) and Nayakudu Vinayakudu (1980). Early life Manju Bhargavi parents originally hailed from Andhra Pradesh ...

as Classical dancer * Geetha as Dance assistant *

Mohan Sharma Mohan Sharma is an Indian film and television actor, film producer, director and screenwriter, who works in South Indian films. He has produced more than 15 films in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. He became noted through his role in '' C ...

as Venugopalarathnam Madhavi's husband

Production

Kamal and R. C. Sakthi wanted to make a film on a subject, about a dancer who was an alcoholic, which they named "Anupallavi" when K. Viswanath approached him with a similar subject, Kamal felt he had to do the film. On the sets of the film, Gopi Krishna, one of the choreographers, insisted that Kamal should train for at least a month. Kamal was one of the top stars of the time, doing multiple shifts, and had to find the time. Kamal said it was the "greatest sacrifice from my side". Playback singer S. P. Sailaja was recruited to play a prominent role, thereby making her debut as an actress and it also remains the only film she had acted in so far. K. Viswanath who is related to Sailaja, decided that she would fit perfectly in the role of Kamal Haasan's pupil, after seeing the photos. Sailaja recalled: "I was reluctant as I was trained only in Bharatanatyam, but in the film I had to perform other dance forms like Kathak too. While shooting my introductory song "Om Namah Shivaya" at Ravindra Bharathi, I became nervous on the stage and refused to act".

did the role of a photographer boy in the film. Thotta Tharani said that the budget was drastically cut for the song in which Kamal dances on the well.

Soundtrack

The film score and soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja . The lyrics for the Telugu version were written by

Veturi Veturi Sundararama Murthy (29 January 1936 – 22 May 2010), known mononymously by his surname Veturi, was an Indian poet, lyricist and journalist who is popular for writing Telugu songs. His career in the Telugu cinema spanned more than four de ...

, while

Vairamuthu Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first ...

has written the lyrics for the Tamil version and

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel ...

for Malayalam version. The song "Vedam Anuvanavuna" is based on

Hamsanandi Hamsanandi (pronounced hamsānandi) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a hexatonic scale (''shadava'' rāgam, which means "of 6"). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam), as it does not have ...

Raga. The song "Om Nama Sivaya" is based on

Hindolam Hindōḷaṃ is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāgam, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāgam (derived scale), as it does not have all the sev ...

Raga. The song "Naada Vinodam" is based on

Shree ranjani Sriranjani is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a hexatonic scale (''shadava'' rāgam, which means "of six"). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam), as it does not have all the seven ''swaras'' ...

Raga. The song "Balakanakamaya" is based on a Thyagaraja kirtana and was composed on

Atana Atana or AThana (अठाण / अठाणा) is a raga (musical scale) in Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). It is a ''Janya'' raga (derived scale), whose ''Melakarta'' raga (parent, also known as ''janaka'') is ''Sankarabharan ...

raga . The song "Thakita Thadimi" is based on

Shanmukhapriya Shanmukhapriya is a ragam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 56th ''melakarta'' rāgam (parent scale) in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is called Chāmaram in Muthuswami Diksh ...

Raga . "Vevela Gopemmala" is based on

Mohanam Mohanam is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāga (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is usually described as a '' janya'' rāga of Harikamboji (28th Melakartha Raga) ...

raga and "Mounamelanoyi Ee Marapurani Reyi" is based on Pahadi raga .

''Sagara Sangamam'' (Original soundtrack)

''Salangai Oli'' (Tamil soundtrack)

''Sagara Sangamam'' (Malayalam soundtrack)

Release and reception

Sagara Sangamam was released on 3 June 1983. The film had a highly successful run in the theatres; it ultimately ended as a box-office success. The

version '' Salangai Oli'' was released on the same day as Sagara Sangamam and successful run in the theatres. This is the first film that ran more than 100 days in 4 Indian southern states of Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The film is listed among

's list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.

Awards and recognitions

The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India in 1984. The film was dubbed into Russian, and was screened at the

and AISFM Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{Kasinathuni Viswanath 1983 films Films directed by K. Viswanath 1980s dance films 1983 romantic drama films 1980s romantic musical films 1980s Telugu-language films Indian dance films Films about the arts Films about alcoholism Films about social issues in India Indian nonlinear narrative films Films shot in Ooty Indian romantic musical films Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Films shot in Visakhapatnam Indian romantic drama films Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films set in Andhra Pradesh Films shot in Andhra Pradesh Indian musical drama films Indian musical films Indian drama films