''Sirivennela'' (

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 ...

:సిరివెన్నల) () is a 1986 Indian

-language

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

written and directed by

K. Viswanath Kasinadhuni Viswanath (19 February 1930 – 2 February 2023) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, lyricist and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. One of the greatest auteurs of Indian cinema, he received international recogn ...

. The film stars Suhasini,

Sarvadaman Banerjee Sarvadaman D. Banerjee (born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu and Hindi language films and television series. He is best known for playing Krishna in Ramanand Sagar's hit television series ''Krishna'' (1993-99). He played ...

and

Moon Moon Sen Moon Moon Sen, also credited as Moonmoon Sen (born Srimati Sen; 28 March 1954), is an Indian actress, known for her works in Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Marathi films. She eventually starred in Bollywood films. S ...

. The film has music composed by

K. V. Mahadevan Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician who won the inaugural National Film Award for Best Music Direction in (1967) for '' Kandan Karunai''. ...

. The film won five

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 ...

. The film was screened at the

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 (FPA). The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first he ...

, 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 ...

, the

Moscow Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to 1959, it was hel ...

and the AISFM Film Festival. The film was shot in

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. The film has

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (present day Prayagraj) in the Indian ...

's flute rendering and a cameo of drummer Sivamani. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''Raaga Devathai''. Lyricist Seetharama Sastry derived his stage name Sirivennela from this film.

Plot

Hari Prasad (

), a blind

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

lives along with his younger sister Samyuktha "Samyu", in a village near

, which is also a tourist attraction. Though he lacks knowledge of classical music, he plays the flute melodiously. He makes a living by playing it for the tourists. One day, guide Jyothirmai (

) comes along with a bunch of tourists and listens to his flute. She understands his talent and helps him understand nature and to become a famous flautist. Years pass and Hari Prasad becomes Pandit Hari Prasad. Unknown to Jyothirmai, Hari Prasad admires her very much and dedicates all his albums to her. Meanwhile, a mute painter Subhashini ( Suhasini) meets him in his village and falls for him. Subhashini expresses her feelings through her paintings and gradually her brother understands her feelings for Hari Prasad. He approaches Hari Prasad's uncle with a marriage proposal. But at the same time Hari Prasad reveals his admiration for Jyothirmai. This shocks Jyothirmai as she previously worked as an escort to rich tourists. She tries to hint to Hari Prasad about her not so decent past, but is overwhelmed by his pure love and his disregard for her past. Though she admires him, she feels that she would taint him with her past. She tells Hari Prasad that she cannot marry him as she already is engaged to a doctor. Hari Prasad takes it well as he always wanted Jyothirmai to be happy, and arranges her wedding. On the wedding day, Jyothirmai commits suicide and requests in her last note that her eyes should be donated to Hari Prasad. She also requests that her funeral procession should appear like a marriage procession, and that her death should be hidden from Hari Prasad. Everyone acts like they are sending her to her in-laws. Hari Prasad keeps calm through all of this, and at last goes to the graveyard to say his final goodbye to Jyothirmai. He tells shocked Samyu that it is impossible to hide her death from him. The film ends with Hari Prasad and Subhashini mourning silently in the graveyard.

Cast

Soundtrack

''Sirivennela'' abounds in classical music composed by

with flute renditions by the renowned

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. All songs were written by Seetharama Sastry. After the success of the soundtrack, he became popularly known as "Sirivennela" Seetharama Sastry. The music was released through Lahari music label.

Awards

, - , rowspan="5",

1986(in

) ,

Sirivennela Sitaramasastri Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry (born Chembolu Seetharama Sastry; 20 May 1955 – 30 November 2021) was an Indian poet and lyricist known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. He acquired the stage name Sirivennela after writing the ...

(for "Vidatha Talapuna") , Best Lyricist , , - ,

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 ...

(for "Vidatha Talapuna") , Best Male Playback Singer , , - ,

, Best Supporting Actress , , - , Pandurangan , Best Audiographer , , - , M. V. Raghu , Special Jury Award ,

Notes

References

External links

* {{Kasinathuni Viswanath, state=collapsed 1986 films Films about the arts Films about blind people in India Films about disability in India Films about deaf people Fiction about disability Films directed by K. Viswanath Films scored by K. V. Mahadevan Indian romantic musical films Films about fictional painters 1980s romantic musical films 1980s Telugu-language films 1986 musical films