''Swarnakamalam'' () is a 1988 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

dance film A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a movie in which dancing is used to reveal inspirational challenges and the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and ...

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

Venkatesh Venkatesh is a given name and family name from the Indian subcontinent derived from Venkateswara, a Hindu deity. Notable persons with the name include: * A. Venkatesh Naik (1936 - 2015), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India * A. Venkatesh (direc ...

and

Bhanupriya Bhanupriya (born Manga Bhanu; 15 January 1967) is an Indian actress and dancer. In a four decade old career, she has appeared in 155 feature films, predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cinema, Tamil, and a few in Malayalam cinema, M ...

in the lead, while Sharon Lowen appears in a special role. The film is about a danseuse daughter of a noted

Kuchipudi ''Kuchipudi'' ( ) 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 Sanskrit ...

exponent, wooed by a painter of banners and hoardings, who uses her as a model. The choreography is helmed by

Kelucharan Mohapatra Kelucharan Mohapatra (8 January 1926 – 7 April 2004) was a legendary Indian classical dancer, guru, and exponent of Odissi dance, who is credited with the revival and popularizing of this classical dance form in the 20th century. He is ...

, and Sharon Lowen with soundtrack by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

. The song sequences were extensively shot at the

Valley of Flowers National Park Valley of Flowers National Park https://valleyofflower.uk.gov.in is an Indian national park which was established in 1982. It is located in Chamoli in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the varie ...

, the

Nanda Devi National Park The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an elev ...

, the

Shanti Stupa Shanti Stupa may refer to: *Shanti Stupa, Delhi *Shanti Stupa, Ladakh *Shanti Stupa, Pokhara {{disamb ...

and Bhringesvara Siva Temple at

Dhauli Dhauli or Dhauligiri is a hill located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Significance Dhauli is known for "Dhauli Santi Stupa", a peace pagoda monument built by Japan Budhha Sangha and Kalinga ...

; and other locations in

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. Featured in the Indian panorama section of the 12th IFFI, 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 ...

and the

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Film & Video Festival, 19 ...

, it fetched three Indian Express Awards, three state

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 ...

, and two South Filmfare Awards, including

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film This is the list of winners of the Nandi Award for Best Feature Films since 1964. Best Feature Film - Gold Second Best Feature Film - Silver Third Best Feature Film - Bronze References See also * Cinema of Andhra Pradesh {{DEFAULTSORT:Na ...

and

Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the '' Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. E ...

Plot

Meenakshi (

) and Savitri (Devilalita) are daughters of a

doyen, Vedantam Seshendra Sarma. While a highly accomplished artist in his field, Seshendra Sarma is not well-off and has not been able to afford for his daughters, a conventional education. Both of them have achieved a respectable degree of proficiency — Savitri in Carnatic classical music and Meenakshi in classical dance. Savitri, the elder daughter, is grateful for her knowledge and interest and looks forward to a life that will require her to hone her skills in the art. Meenakshi, on the other hand, is bitter about the lack of opportunity that she feels in the field of classical dance in India and resolves to make a simpler and more pleasurable life for herself as soon as possible, while confiding her ambitions only to her sister. Chandrasekhar (

) is a tenant who has just moved in next door. He is a painter and is shown to be handling movie promotions as a large part of his work. He develops an interest in the neighbors and tries to help them in whatever way he can, partly because of his (unconfessed) interest in Meenakshi and partly because of his interest in the art which seems to be slowly fading from public life. The rest of the film is largely built around Meenakshi's journey from skepticism to devotion in her pursuit of dance. Chandrasekhar is shown to be an important catalyst in this transformation. Meenakshi becomes an accomplished dancer through the direction of renowned Odissi dancer Sharon Lowen, and gets the

opportunity Opportunity may refer to: Places * Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States * Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States * ...

to go to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and perform. She learns of Chandrasekhar's love for her, and finally unites with Chandrasekhar, confessing her love for him as well.

Cast

as Chandu / Chandra Shekar *

as Meenakshi * Shanmukha Srinivas as Srinivas *

Sakshi Ranga Rao Sakshi Ranga Rao (born Rangavajhula Ranga Rao; – 27 June 2005) was an Indian character actor who worked in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre, theatre. He appeared in about 450 films over a career spanning four decades, majority of which w ...

as Omkaram * Sri Lakshmi as Akhilam * S. K. Misro as Government official * Devilalita as Savitri *

Dubbing Janaki Dasari Janaki, known professionally as Dubbing Janaki, is an Indian actress and voice artist. She has appeared in several films and television shows in various South Indian languages. Early life Janaki was born in Peddapuram, East Godavari ...

Pavala Syamala Pavala Syamala is an Indian actress from Andhra Pradesh. She has been playing supporting roles in Telugu films since 1985. She made her debut as an actress with the film Babai Abbai. Personal life She was born in a Brahmin family. She lost h ...

* Sharon Lowen as herself *

Mucherla Aruna Mucherla Aruna is an Indian influencer and former actress who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films, mainly during the 1980s. Early life and career Mucherla Aruna was born in Kothagudem of Telangana into a family that belong ...

as Meenakshi's friend * K. V. Satyanarayana * Vinnakota Vijayaram * N. Sivarama Krishnaiah * K. S. T. Sai * S. S. Vajpayee

Production

The production design was helmed by Arun D. Ghodgaonkar, with cinematography by

Lok Singh Lok Singh was an Indian cinematographer who primarily worked in Telugu movies mostly in the 80s and 90s. He worked for over 31 movies with Chiranjeevi Konidela Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an India ...

.http://www.indianbackgroundscore.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=164 indianbackgroundscore.com Casting was done by K. Viswanath, including American dancer Sharon Lowen, who portrayed herself as a veteran

Odissi ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...

artist.

Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by

and released on ECHO Music Company.

Awards

;

- 1988 * Best Feature Film - Gold - Ch.V. Appa Rao *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

* Best Choreographer - Srinivas * Best Lyricist - Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry ;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

- 1988 * Best Film – Telugu - Ch.V. Appa Rao * Best Actress – Telugu - Bhanupriya ;

Cinema Express Awards - 1988 On 9 March 1989, ''Cinema Express magazine'' editor V. Ramamurthy announced the best of South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the st ...

* Cinema Express Awards Best Film - Ch.V. Appa Rao * Cinema Express Awards Best Director -

* Cinema Express Awards Best Actress -

References

External links

* {{Kasinathuni Viswanath 1988 films 1980s Telugu-language films 1980s dance films Films directed by K. Viswanath Indian dance films Films about the arts Films about fictional painters Films about classical music and musicians Films shot in Odisha Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian romantic drama films Films shot in Uttarakhand Films shot in Visakhapatnam 1988 romantic drama films