''Valmiki'' () is a 1963 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 film, directed by C. S. Rao and produced by S. K. Habeebulla. The film stars Rajkumar,

Kantha Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao appeared in more than 400 feature films, s ...

, Narasimharaju and

Rajanala Kaleswara Rao Rajanala Kaleswara Rao, known mononymously by his surname as Rajanala, was an Indian actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, and a few Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi films. In a film career spanning more than four ...

. The film has musical score by Ghantasala. The movie is based on the life of

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

. S. K. Bhagavan who was initially the co- director of the movie had to let go of the opportunity as he was also supposed to be involved with greater responsibility in ''

Mantralaya Mahatme ''Mantralaya Mahatme'' () is a 1966 Indian Kannada-language film directed by T. V. Singh Thakur, based on the book ''Sri Raghavendra Vijaya'' written by Rajaguru Rajacharya. The film stars Rajkumar in the role of Raghavendra Swami, a Hindu s ...

'' and hence suggested he be replaced with S. Siddalingaiah. Director C. S. Rao and

Jupiter Pictures Jupiter Pictures () was an Indian feature film production company founded in Coimbatore in 1934 by M. Somasundaram (popularly known as "Jupiter Somu") and S.K. Mohideen. Jupiter Pictures was a major production house with 46 releases with 36 fil ...

made the film simultaneously in Telugu with the same title starring

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, film editor, philanthropist, and politician who served as the Chief Minister o ...

in the lead role retaining most of the cast and crew.

Kanta Rao Tadepalli Lakshmi Kantha Rao (16 November 1923 – 22 March 2009) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the finest method actors, Rao appeared in more than 400 feature films, ...

appeared as Lord

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

in a song sequence in both versions. Veteran actress, Urvashi Sharada made her

debut through this film.

Cast

* Rajkumar *

* Narasimharaju *

*Raghuramaiah * Mikkilineni *Srikanth *A. V. Subba Rao *Dr. Shivaramakrishnaiah *Dharmaraj *Jagga Rao *Koteshwar Rao *Sampath *Basha *Shando Krishna * Raja Sulochana * Leelavathi *

M. N. Lakshmi Devi Mysore Narasimhachar Lakshmi Devi, known as M. N. Lakshmi Devi, is a veteran film artist in Kannada films. She is from Chintamani and has had a career of 7 decades. She made her debut in Srinivasa Kalyana (1952) movie and has acted nearly in 1 ...

* Sharada *Shakunthala * B. Jaya *Padmini *Shashikala * Pramila *Kousalya

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao.

References

External links

* 1963 films 1960s Kannada-language films Hindu mythological films Indian multilingual films Films directed by C. S. Rao Films scored by Ghantasala (musician) 1963 multilingual films {{1960s-Kannada-film-stub