''Chakradhari'' () is a 1977

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 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 docud ...

, based on the life of the potter-turned-saint

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

. produced by N. R. Anuradha Devi under the Lakshmi Films Combines banner and directed 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 ...

. The film stars

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 ...

and

Vanisri Vanisri (born Rathna Kumari) is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has received three Filmfare Awards South, the Nandi Awards and the Tamil Nadu S ...

, with music composed by G. K. Venkatesh. It is a remake of the 1974 Kannada film ''

Bhakta Kumbara ''Bhakta Kumbara'' () is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language biographical film directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthy. The film stars Rajkumar and Leelavathi. Actress Sridevi essayed the role of Muktha Bai (as a child artist), thereby the latter making ...

''. G.K.Venkatesh, who had composed music for the Kannada version, was chosen as the music director of this movie. 4 songs were retained from the original version.

Plot

The film is based on the story of

an advent devotee of

Lord Panduranga Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

between the 11th to 12th centuries belonging to Satyapuri village Maharashtra. The film begins, with

Namadeva Shri Sant Namdev Maharaj (Pronunciation: aːmdeʋ, also transliterated as Nam Dayv, Namdeo, Namadeva, (traditionally, ) was a Marathi Bahujan saint from Narsi, Hingoli, Maharashtra, India within the Varkari tradition of Hinduism. He l ...

a great disciple of Lord Panduranga offering ''

Prasāda 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most often ''Prasada'' is vegetarian food ...

'' to which he does not respond when saint Gynadev explains that the Lord may visit some other devotee. At that moment, self-centered Namadeva declares there is no other devotee superior to him. Now the story twists to Gora a potter, who leads a happy family life with his ideal wife Lakshmi, and a kid Vittu. Gora is very kindhearted and ameliorates everyone in the village. However, he is not interested in worldly matters and is always immersed in the adoration of Lord Panduranga. Once, Namadeva & Gynadeva in their tour halts at Satyapuri where Gora provides hospitality. Here Gynadeva orders Gora to acknowledge the state of knowledge from the disciples when Gora affirms Namadeva as a half-knowledge fellow. Knowing it, Namadeva seeks the Lord to endorse his duty when the Lord states to search for a mentor to amend his deficiency and he moves. Meanwhile, in an awful incident, Gora while mixing clay gets involved in a devotional ecstasy and plods the child under the mud. Due to this, furious Lakshmi takes a vow in the name of the Lord that Gora should not touch her. There onwards, Gora works on his own which suffers Lakshmi. So, she performs remarriage to him with her sister Manju when Lakshmi's father takes a promise from Gora to treat both of his wives similarly. Right now, Gora refuses to touch Manju also, but one night, unfortunately, he touches them and dies out of contrition as he committed a great sin. So, he amputates his hands when Panduranga appears in the form of a potter Ranganna and starts serving him. During that time, Namadeva realizes Gora is his mentor, bows his head down, and also makes known that Ranganna is none other than Panduranga. At last, the Lord completes his test of Gora, restores his hands, and gives back his child alive. Finally, it is proclaimed that Gora's name will be immortal as one of the great devotees of Lord Panduranga.

Cast

as Gora Kumbhar / Gora *

as Lakshmi *

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. She is hailed as one of the most iconic and influential actresses in both Telugu and Hindi film industries in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada i ...

as Manju * Satyanarayana as

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

/ Ranganna *

Gummadi Gummadi (Telugu: గుమ్మడి) is an Indian given name and surname. It may refer to: * Gummadi (actor) Gummadi Venkateswara Rao (9 July 1927 – 26 January 2010), known mononymously by his surname Gummadi, was an Indian actor and prod ...

as Lakshmi's father *

Allu Ramalingaiah Allu Ramalingaiah (1 October 1922 – 31 July 2004) was an Indian character actor, comedian, and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. In 1990, He was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Indian cinema. In 1998, he re ...

as Sangoji * Rajababu as Devada *

Mukkamala Mukkamala may refer to: * Mukkamala (actor) * Mukkamala, East Godavari district Mukkamala is a village in Ambajipeta mandal of East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Eminent Astrophysicist Appadvedula Lakshmi Narayan, known as A. L. N ...

as Saint *Nagaraju as Gynadeva *

Mada Mada ( sa, मद) is a term used in both Hindu theology and mythology. It is one of the Arishadvargas. It refers to one of the six enemy of the mind or a vice according to the Hindu scriptures. It is the Hindu equivalent of Pride from the seven ...

as Basavanna *

Vennira Aadai Nirmala Vennira Aadai Nirmala (born as A. B. Shanthi in Kumbakonam) is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She was a prominent lead actress from 1960s and 70s. She is credited as Ushakumari in Malayalam film indus ...

Rukmini Rukmini ( sa, रुक्मिणी, , ) is a Hindu goddess and the first queen and chief wife of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. She is an in ...

Rama Prabha Rama Prabha is an Indian actress who performs in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. She has acted in more than 1,400 films and is credited as a character artist who shared screen space with superstars across all generation of South Indian Cinem ...

as Tulasamma *

Jaya Malini Jayamalini (or Jaya Malini) is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi movies. Career She was introduced to Tollywood in 1975 by Vittalacharya in the movie he produced, ''Aadadani Adrustam'' ...

item number In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and ...

Soundtrack

Music was composed by G. K. Venkatesh who was also the composer of the Kannada version. Four songs were retained from the original Kannada versions whereas another song was based on a Kannada song from ''

Bangaarada Manushya ''Bangaarada Manushya'' ( kn, ಬಂಗಾರದ ಮನುಷ್ಯ, ''Golden Man'') is a 1972 Indian Kannada language film based on T. K. Rama Rao's novel of same name. Ramarao was known for his crime and detective novels, but this film was a ...

'' movie composed by the same music director.

Other versions

The story of

has been an inspiration for various movies and has had various versions in Indian film industry.

References

External links

{{V. Madhusudhana Rao Indian biographical films Hindu devotional films Films directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao Films scored by G. K. Venkatesh Films set in the 13th century Films set in the 14th century Telugu remakes of Kannada films 1970s biographical films