Sankarabharanam

One of the best telugu movies I have seen. It has really great music (unfortunately rather poorly recorded for the 70s), good acting and storyline. It is one of those movies with everything : comedy (Brochevaevaralu), tragedy (the overall story) and drama.

If one were to name the best movies ever made, " Shankarabharanam" would occupy the numero uno position... K Vishwanath(Director), Jandhayala(Dialogues), K V Mahadevan (Music), Veturi Sundara ram Murthy(Lyrics), S P Balasubramanyam (Singer), have together come up with a excellent masterpiece.... The movie has all the ingredients... The performance of the male protagonist "Shankara Sastry", played by J V Somayajulu, is one of the highlights. Equally important is the role of dancer played by Manju Bhargavi.The fact that Music, may it be Western or Eastern is a result of strong emotions is very well picturized,.... One of the all time bests.

Such wonder has never happened in the past and will never happen in future. A Sangamam of great Archaryas in their respective fields,KalaTapasvi K.Vishwanath,KV Mahadevan,SP Balasubraminam,Veturi etc in making a real jewel for shiva.These ragas melt our hearts while the lyrics enlighten our soul with explaining paths to the divine through music.Apart from being exceptional movie on classical music,this movie portrays the culture of Andhrites,the uniqueness of Telugu as a musical/classical language.Every actor/actress fit their role perfectly, and photography has been in tune with the subject and narration.Music itself is a ocean, K.Viswanath brought the great ratnas (ragas)out of the depths and carefully moulded them in an ornament, with the support of a great story,lyrics, and cast.Probably this would have been the best role Somaiyajulu would ever had in his career.. Anyway, every movie of KalaTapasvi is a masterpiece..

Well.. Well.. 1000 words would not be sufficient to tell even a hundredth about the movie. No kidding. The first time I watched the movie, I was a kid and obviously did not like the movie as I did not understand it. The second time, I appreciated the movie and then on I have seen the movie n number of times and every time I saw it, I see a new angle which the director wants the viewer to observe and dig deep. The music scored by KV Mahadevan is simply superb. SPB, S Janakia and Vani Jayaram have done a great job and Veturi's lyrics are a class apart. The movie had won 4 National awards which include the best movie providing wholesome entertainment, best music, best male playback and best female playback (Vani Jayaram). The song for which Vani Jayaram has won the award is not even 2 minutes in length and it is the shortest song ever to win an award in any part of the world. The award is SPB's first National award. He tuned his voice so well that it appears as if a 60-year old person was singing (He was not even 35). Another interesting aspect of the movie is that this movie has increased the tape recoreder sales in AP by 10 times. (Tape recorders were new in AP). The dialogues in the movie are excellent and JV Somayajulu (debut) has given an excellent performance.

In short, a novel story, an excellent script, superb direction, stellar performances and above all high-quality songs easily makes Shankaraabharanam the best Telugu movie ever.

Shankarabharanam is story of how music can bring together people from different walks of life.Melocholic,pure,brilliant and yet at times sad,the movie chronicles the life of a brilliant artist from the memories and thoughts of a fellow music lover.

Shankara Shasthry is a renowned carnatic singer of his time.At the height of his prominence, he is invited by communities near and far and felicitated by prominent people.After the advent of pop music however,carnatic music begins to recede in popularity and the great Shankara shasthry becomes an afterthought in the minds of young music lovers swayed by western culture.

Among his devoted listeners is a young woman who is of a geisha-esqe heritage.Even though the reason she is taught music is more for the practical purpose of enticing a potential benefactor,she develops a true love for music and in the process tremendous respect for the great artist.The two are brought together after the women seeks shelter away from people who are trying to exploit her.

The crux of the movie is that the world doesn't understand that the relationship between the teacher and disciple is purely platonic.Given the heritage of the disciple,society simply assumes to name a relationship at its lowest level, when the bond between the characters cannot be catogorized or described that easily.

Ironically society is so shallow and immature as to that it would rather let go of a esteemed member of their community rather than accept a lowly member into their very own.

The disciple soon realizes that her proximity to her teacher clouds the majesty of her teacher and she disappears into the darkness of the night.Years later,she returns with a child,a byproduct of a tragic rape.She intends to give her son the opportunity of tutelage under the great master unlike herself who never had the chance.This forms of the story arc of the movie.

The greatness of the movie lies in its purity of the message that it delivers and the relevance that it holds till date;i.e we are humans first,art unites, and the purpose of the society is to bring people together not divide on the basis of heritage or caste.

A movie told narrated more though music and silence,Shankarabharanam is timeless classic with music that is simply gold.