''Shravana Banthu'' is a 1984 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

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film, written and directed by

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

. The film stars Rajkumar,

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and '' Puranic'' s ...

and

Srinath Narayana Swamy (born 28 December 1944), known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is ...

. The film, produced by P. A. Kameshwara Rao, deals with reincarnation as the subject where the lead roles get killed for their romance and then they are shown to be reborn again and fall in love yet again in the backdrop of inter-faith marriage. The dialogues and lyrics were written by

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. H ...

. The film was received exceptionally well at the box-office and was one of the biggest hits of 1984. This was the first Kannada movie to show a computer on-screen. The director remade the movie in the same year in Telugu as '' Vasantha Geetam''.

Plot

The film has a reincarnation plot with a secular message. The singer Kumar (Rajkumar), on a pilgrimage to a temple he saw in his dreams, meets the spirit of his friend Vishwa (Srinath), unrequited from an earlier birth. The friend recalls their previous lives in which they had been in love with the same woman Urvashi (Urvashi). She loved Kumar and Vishwa had ordered his men to kill his rival, unaware that this was his friend Kumar. Realising his mistake, he committed suicide and his spirit was condemned to wander until redemption had been achieved. The woman from their earlier life, now reborn as Mary, a Christian, is courted by Kumar with the assistance of the spirit. The two eventually marry after overcoming the resistance of Kumar's caste-conscious father. This segment involves a comic turn when Kumar pretends to have lost his memory and becomes "Peter from Petersburg".

Cast

* Rajkumar as Raghu/Kumar/Peter *

as Vishwa *

as Urvasi/ Mary / Saraswati *

K. S. Ashwath Karaganahalli Subbaraya Ashwathanarayana (25 March 1925 – 18 January 2010) was an Indian veteran actor who appeared in Kannada films He appeared in over 370 films during his five-decade-long career. His only memorial in the whole of Karnat ...

as Kumar's Father * Leelavathi as Mary's Mother *

Thoogudeepa Srinivas Mysore Srinivas (17 April 1943 – 16 October 1995), known by his stage name Thoogudeepa Srinivas was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films and is remembered for his portrayal of negative-shaded characters. He is the father of actor, ...

as Mary's Father *

Shivaram S. Shivaram (28 January 1938 – 4 December 2021), popularly known simply as Shivaram or Shivaramanna, was an Indian actor, producer and director whose Kannada cinema career has spanned six decades. He has played roles including lead hero p ...

Uma Shivakumar Uma Shivakumar (c. 1941 – 25 June 2013) was an Indian film and theatre character actress, who career included role in more than 170 Kannada language films and more than 30 plays. She was nicknamed "Baddi Bangaramma" by audiences, after th ...

Advani Lakshmi Devi Advani Lakshmi Devi is a retired Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema. She has played a variety of roles such as heroine, vamp, mother, grandmother in hundreds of Kannada movies over the last 50 years. Her role in films '' Gandh ...

* Vijayaranjini * Vishwanath

Soundtrack

The music was composed by

M. Ranga Rao M. Ranga Rao (26 April 1932 – 3 August 1990) was a prominent Indian composer who predominantly worked in Kannada cinema. Rao was known for his mellifluous scores and lilting tunes backed with strong classical nuances. "Ranga Rao" composed tun ...

to the lyrics of

. All the songs were received exceptionally well and are considered evergreen hits of Kannada cinema.

References

External links

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Raaga info
{{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao 1984 films 1980s Kannada-language films Indian romantic drama films Films scored by M. Ranga Rao Films about reincarnation Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Kannada films remade in other languages 1984 romantic drama films