Sasirekha Parinayam is an Indian

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

based on oral traditions popular in

Telugu States Telugu states are the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in southeastern India. An ethno-region of Telugu People, they as a collective are bordered by Maharashtra to the north, Karnataka to the west, Odisha, Chhattisgarh to the nort ...

. While it uses characters who appear in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

'', the story is not present in the epic. The plot concerns the marriage of Sasirekha, called Vatsala in some versions, the daughter of

Balarama Balarama ( Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: ''Balarāma'') is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Ba ...

, to Abhimanyu, the son of

Arjuna Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...

. It echoes the marriage of Arjuna to

Subhadra Subhadra ( sa, सुभद्रा, Subhadrā) is a Hindu goddess mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures like the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Bhagavata Purana''. She is described as the favourite child of Vasudeva and the younger sister of de ...

in the ''Mahabharata''. The story is popular in performances, including

Tholu bommalata ''Tholu bommalata'' is the shadow puppet theatre tradition of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Its performers are part of a group of wandering entertainers and peddlers who pass through villages during the course of a year and offer to si ...

(shadow puppets),

Yakshagana Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur district, Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines da ...

, and

Kuchipudi Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...

. By early 1950s,

Surabhi Kamadhenu ( sa, कामधेनु, , ), also known as Surabhi (, or , ), is a divine bovine-goddess described in Hinduism as the mother of all cows. She is a miraculous cow of plenty who provides her owner whatever he desires and is often ...

theatre troupes made the folktale popular across

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 ...

-speaking regions. The story was adapted to cinema multiple times. According M. L. Narasimham of '' The Hindu'',

Baburao Painter Baburao Krishnarao Mestry, popularly known as Baburao Painter (3 June 1890 – 16 January 1954) was an Indian filmmaker and artist. He was a man of many talents with proficiency in painting, sculpture, film production, photography, and mechanic ...

adapted the folktale thrice as a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

in 1919, 1921 and 1923 with

V. Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

Lord Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

. Nanubhai Vakil directed the first

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decad ...

version of the tale in 1932 in Hindi.

R. Padmanaban R. Padmanabhan (1895–1983) was an Indian film director who worked in Tamil films. One of the pioneers of the South Indian film industry, he initially started distribution of silent films and later directed and produced his own films. Filmogra ...

made a Tamil film based on the story in 1935. P. V. Das adapted it into his 1936 Telugu film ''

Mayabazar ''Mayabazar'' () is a 1957 Indian epic Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy. It was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under their banner, Vijaya Productions. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages, ...

'' (also known as ''Sasirekha Parinayam''). The most popular film made on the folktale is the 1957 Telugu film ''

''. On the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013, ''

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 interna ...

'' included the 1957 ''Mayabazar'' in its list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time". In an online poll conducted by ''CNN-IBN'' among those 100 films, it was voted by the public as the "greatest Indian film of all time." The 2008 Telugu film '' Sasirekha Parinayam'' was also named after it. The story was adapted into a Hindi film titled '' Veer Ghatotkach'' in 1948 and was remade in 1970, from

Ghatotkacha Ghatotkacha ( sa, घटोत्कच, , literally: "Bald Pot") is a prominent character in the story of ''Mahabharata''. His name comes from the fact that his head was hairless (''utkacha'') and shaped like a ghatam, or a pot. Ghatotkacha ...

's perspective. It was also made into the animated film ''Ghatotkach'' in 2008.

References

{{myth-stub Kuchipudi