''Karunamayudu'' (; also commonly known as ''Ocean of Mercy'' from its titles in other languages) is a 1978 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

-language

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

written and directed by A. Bhimsingh. It stars

Vijayachander Vijayachander, (born Vijayachander Telidevara), is an Indian actor, director and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television. Regarded as one of the finest character actor's of Telugu cinema, Vijayachander has appear ...

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religi ...

. The film won two

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, was notable for two song sequences narrating the

Birth of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

and

Entry into Jerusalem The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is a narrative in the four canonical Gospels describing the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem a few days before his crucifixion. This event is celebrated each year by Christians on Palm Sunday. According to the ...

, the film was screened at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...

. It was followed by ''Dayamayudu'' (1987), starring Vijayachander as

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, which can considered as a sequel to ''Karunamayudu''. A Hindi television series titled Dayasagar aired on

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

, the national public broadcaster, in the 1990s with Vijayachander reprising the role of Jesus Christ.

Cast

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

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 indust ...

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

* A. Bhimsingh as

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

* Chandra Mohan as

Bartimaeus Each of the three Synoptic Gospels tells of Jesus healing the blind near Jericho, as he passed through that town, shortly before his passion. The Gospel of Mark tells of the curing of a man named Bartimaeus, healed by Jesus as he is leaving Jer ...

, the Blind man *

Jaggayya Kongara Jaggayya (31 December 1926 – 5 March 2004) was an Indian actor, littérateur, journalist, lyricist, dubbing artist and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He was known as ''Kanchu Kantam Ja ...

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

* Surekha as

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Rajasulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life Sh ...

Sumalatha Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received ...

* Mukkamala * Mikkilineni *

Dhulipala Dhulipala Sitarama Sastry (24 September 1921 – 13 April 2007), known mononymously by the surname Dhulipala, was an Indian actor and thespian, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He was noted for playing mythological roles, p ...

* Raja Babu *

Padmanabham Padmanabham mandal is one of the 46 mandals in Visakhapatnam District in India. It is under the administration of Bhemunipatnam revenue division and the headquarters is located at Padmanabham. The Mandal is bounded by Bheemunipatnam, Anandapu ...

Giri Babu Yerra Seshagiri Rao, popularly known as Giri Babu, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who primarily works in Telugu films. His son, Raghu Babu, is also a notable actor-director. Career Giri Babu hails from a middle-class agricultura ...

Apostle John John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

Sreedhar Sreedhar (born Sreedhar Surapaneni; 1939–2007) was an Indian actor who worked in Telugu films. He started acting in small roles in early 1970s. He became popular with ''Mutyala Muggu'' in 1975 directed by Bapu. He played heroes, villains an ...

* Tyagaraju *

Mada Venkateswara Rao Mada Venkateswara Rao (4 June 1935 – 24 October 2015) was an Indian actor from Andhra Pradesh. He acted in more than 600 films. He played notable roles in the films ''Mutyala Muggu'', '' Lambadolla Ramdasu'', and '' Mayadari Malligadu''. He wa ...

Production

The film was originally set to be called ''Raraju Kristu'' (''Christ the King'', possibly inspired by Cecil B. DeMille's '' The King of Kings'') and gained some funding from the Roman Catholic Church in South India.

Songs

* "Devudu Ledani Anakunda" (Singer:

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), commonly known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is widely regarde ...

) * "Kadile Muvvala Sandadilo" (Singer:

Vani Jayaram Vani Jairam (born Kalaivani; 30 November 1945 – 4 February 2023) was an Indian playback singer in Indian cinema. She is fondly referred to as the "'' Meera of modern India''" Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. Sh ...

) * "Kadilindi Karuna Radham" (Singer:

) * "Paripoorna Kreestu" * "Puvvulakanna Punnami Vennelakanna" (Singer: V. Ramakrishna)

Reception

The film reportedly performed well at the box office in its initial run.

Role in Evangelism in India

Directed and produced in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, with all-Indian actors, ''Karunamayudu'' was seen by many missionaries as one of the most culturally relevant tools for Christian evangelism in India. In India, many of the villagers encounter a story that they are unfamiliar with: the Life of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. The gospel is rendered in their cultural context when the film is shown. The film was not considered evangelical upon release, but American evangelicals later promoted the film in India as an evangelical tool. According to Dayspring International, a ministry founded to propagate the film, ''Karunamayudu'' was dubbed into 14 Indian languages by 2012.

Other language titles

Dubbed

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

- Daya Sagar (Ocean of Mercy) *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

- Karunamoorthy (The Compassionate One) *

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

- Dayasagara (Ocean of Mercy) *

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 ...

- Mishihaacharithram (History/Story of the Messiah/Jesus)

Awards

;

(in

) * Third Best Feature Film - Bronze -

* Best Screenplay Writer - Modhukuri Jhonson

References

Bibliography

External links

Dayasagar Website
* * *

{{A. Bhimsingh 1978 films 1970s Telugu-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by A. Bhimsingh Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection Films about Jesus Films set in Palestine (region) Films set in Jerusalem Films set in ancient Egypt Films set in the Roman Empire Films set in the 1st century Films shot in India Portrayals of Mary, mother of Jesus, in film Indian religious epic films Portrayals of Mary Magdalene in film Film series based on the Bible Films based on the Gospels Films about the Nativity of Jesus Depictions of Herod the Great on film The Devil in film Cultural depictions of Judas Iscariot Cultural depictions of John the Baptist Biblical Magi in film Cultural depictions of Paul the Apostle Cultural depictions of Saint Peter Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate John the Apostle Cultural depictions of Thomas the Apostle Portrayals of Saint Joseph in film Christian mass media in India