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''Sri Manjunatha'' is a 2001 Indian
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 ...
-language hagiographical film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. The film stars
Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, philanthropist and former politician known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known as the "Mega Star", he is widely regarded as one of the most succe ...
,
Arjun Sarja Srinivasa Sarja (born 15 August 1962), better known by his stage name Action King Arjun, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has mainly acted in Tamil cinema, Tamil films in addition to Telugu ...
,
Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted ...
,
Meena Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...
,
Soundarya Sowmya Sathyanarayana (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress known for her works primarily in Telugu cinema. She was regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Telugu ...
and
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 ...
. The film is based on the life of the Shiva devotee, Bhakta Manjunatha of the Kotilingeshwara Temple. The film was partially reshot in
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 ...
under the same title with Chiranjeevi's scenes reshot and
Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...
and
Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet and playwright who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including few in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi; while he was al ...
replacing
Dwarakish Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath (19 August 1942 – 16 April 2024), known by his stage name Dwarakish ( ), was an Indian actor, comedian and filmmaker who predominantly worked in Kannada cinema in addition to few Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cine ...
and
Mimicry Dayanand Mimicry Dayanand is an Indian impressionist, stand-up comedian, actor and television presenter from the Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Ka ...
, respectively whilst all other scenes were dubbed from the Kannada original. The film was released on 22 June 2001 worldwide. Upon release, the film received positive reviews and became a hit at the box office. The film was screened in 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 ...
.


Background

Manjunatha is an aspect of
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
. ''Manju'' means 'snow' and ''Natha'' means 'lord.' Since Lord Shiva resides on
Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; ; ; , ) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Kailash Range (Gangdisê Mountains) of the Transhimalaya, in the western part ...
, and hence the ruler of the
Himalaya Mountains The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 peak ...
, as he is the lord of that
loka Loka () is a concept in Hinduism and other Indian religions, that may be translated as a planet, the universe, a plane, or a realm of existence. In some philosophies, it may also be interpreted as a mental state that one can experience. A prima ...
(dimension), he is called ''Manjunatha''. Manjunatha is one of the most common names in Karnataka state for males and Manjula for females. Both are commonly called by the nickname name "Manju." This is mostly because of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swami Temple located in
Dharmasthala Dharmasthala() (earlier known as Kuduma) is an Indian temple town on the banks of the Nethravathi River in the taluk of Belthangady of the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, India. The town is known for its centuries-old Dharmastha ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
.


Plot

Manjunatha is an atheist, but a good person helping others in need and fighting evil. Even though Manjunatha hates his namesake
Lord Siva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...
, the latter loves his would be devotee. Being an atheist, Manjunatha always scolds Lord Shiva which is watched by Shiva's vehicle
Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afr ...
and his attendant Bhrungi. Manjunatha meets Katyayini who is about to become a ''devadasi'' (Servant of the Lord) and marries her. Soon they beget a son, Siddhartha ("Siddhu"), who like his mother is a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. After marriage Manjunatha realizes the existence of Lord Shiva and slowly transforms himself into a great devotee of Lord Shiva. With his devotion, he lights the lamps of the Manjunatha Temple in Dharmasthala without using a matchstick and wins the hearts of everybody including the local King, Ambikeswara Maharaju who invites him to his court where he felicitates Manjunatha much to Manjunatha's dislike. Here, the king realises that Manjunatha is going to die. In the meantime Manjunatha starts a
Koti Koti may refer to: Places * Koti, Armenia * Koti Department, Burkina Faso, and its capital Koti, Burkina Faso * Koti, Hyderabad, India * Koti, Novo Mesto, Slovenia * Koti Island, Mozambique * Koti (princely state), now part of Solan district, Hi ...
Lingam A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Up ...
Puja with over 1,000 lingams worshipped and both Manjunatha and the king singing the Lingashtakam and performing the puja. Manjunatha is also troubled by his enemies and is aided by Lord Shiva who comes in various disguises to save his devotee and help him and his wife attain salvation.


Cast


Production

The film was launched at Sri Manjunatheswara temple at Dharmasthala and another at Ganesha Temple at R T Nagar in Bangalore and also at Kanteerava Studios.


Soundtrack


Kannada Version


Telugu Version


Reception

A critic from ''
Chitraloka ''Chitraloka.com'' is an Indian website focused on the Kannada film industry. Launched on 26 June 2000 by K. M. Veeresh, it was the first dedicated online portal for Kannada cinema. The website provides news, updates, and features on Kannada f ...
'' wrote that "In the annals of Kannada film history this film is undoubtedly a masterpiece". A critic from ''Online Bangalore'' wrote that "This film is undoubtedly a masterpiece. It has a wonderful star cast, director, music, singers, ndcinematography". Regarding the partially reshot Telugu version, Jeevi of ''
Idlebrain.com Idlebrain.com is an Indian entertainment website dedicated to Telugu cinema. Established in 1999 by G. V. Ramana, popularly known as Jeevi, a graduate of BITS Pilani, the site is among the oldest websites on the Internet focused on Telugu films ...
'' wrote that "He takes us through a journey till the heart-touching climax by making the best use of the histrionics of Chiranjeevi, Arjun and other actors". A critic from ''Full Hyderabad'' wrote that "'Sri Manjunatha' is an example of doing justice to a particular genre with complete honesty. It will reap the dividends due to this trait".


Accolades


Notes


References


External links

* {{K. Raghavendra Rao, state=collapsed 2001 films 2000s Kannada-language films Indian multilingual films Indian biographical films Indian films based on actual events Films about reincarnation Hindu devotional films Hindu mythological films Indian epic films Films directed by K. Raghavendra Rao Films scored by Hamsalekha 2000s biographical films 2001 multilingual films Supernatural films Paranormal films