Shankar Guru (1978 film)

Shankar Guru
Poster of the film
Directed by	V. Somashekhar
Produced by	Parvathamma Rajkumar
Written by	Chi. Udayashankar (dialogue)
Screenplay by	M. D. Sundar
Starring	Rajkumar Kanchana Jaimala Padmapriya
Music by	Upendra Kumar
Cinematography	R. Madhusudan
Edited by	P. Bhaktavatsalam
Production company	Dakshayini Combines
Release date	1978 (1978)
Running time	179 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹35lakhs
Box office	₹3Crores

Shankar Guru (Kannada: ಶಂಕರ್ ಗುರು) is a 1978 Indian Kannada film directed by V. Somashekhar starring Rajkumar, Kanchana, Jaimala in lead roles. The supporting cast features Padmapriya, Balakrishna, Vajramuni, Thoogudeepa Srinivas and Uma Shivakumar. Rajkumar appeared in a triple role in the film — as a father and his two sons separated in childhood.

The film is considered one of the best Kannada films of the 1970s and is seen as a milestone in the career of Rajkumar.^[1] It was remade in Tamil as Thirisoolam (1979), in Telugu as Kumara Raja(1978) and in Hindi as Mahaan (1983) in which, Rajkumar's characters were played by Sivaji Ganesan, Krishna and Amitabh Bachchan respectively.^[2][3]

Plot

Rajashekhar's (Rajkumar) business partners arrive at his house on his birthday and wedding anniversary with a bouquet of flowers to his pregnant wife Sumati and arrange a meeting that evening. They announce their decision to smuggle idols of deities abroad to which Rajashekhar opposes causing a rift between them killing one of them in the process. Pursued by police, he escapes with his wife Sumathi, only to be stranded at the railway station with his wife going separating from him. Sumati, delivers a baby boy, takes up painting and gets on with life.

Years roll by, Rajashekhar is living in Srinagar, Kashmir as a wealthy estate owner named as Jairaj. Sumati's son Shankar finds out about his father and also learns about his twin brother Guru.
Thrilling sequences interspersed with comedy and romance make for a heady climax.

Cast

Trivia

• The film was a major success and completed a one-year run in theatres.^[4]

• Chi. Udayashankar, the dialogue-writer for the film titled it Shankar Guru after his sons Ravishankar and Chi. Guru Dutt.

• At the 1977–78 Karnataka State Film Awards, P. Bhaktavatsalam was awarded the Best Editor.^[5]

• Shankar Guru was the debut production of Parvathamma Rajkumar under the banner Vajreshwari Combines.^[6]

• This was the second movie of Rajkumar after Kula Gourava in which he played a triple role.This is also the only colour movie in which he played a triple role.

• The movie was the first Kannada movie to gross one crore.

• This was the first movie in which Prabhakar's character was called Tiger.

• This was actor Chandrashekhar's second movie with Rajkumar after Raja Nanna Raja.

• The Telugu version had Kannada actress Jayanthi reprising Kanchana's role while Jaya Prada reprised the role of Padmapriya.

• The names of all the characters including the henchmen were retained in the Tamil version.^[7]

• During the making of this movie, director S. K. Bhagavan had narrated a Russian story (titled The Return of the Soldier ) to Rajkumar. The film was planned to be shot in Ladakh and some preparation was undertaken, but in the end Rajkumar backed out as he felt the story was too dark. 40 years later, the story was adapted into a movie titled Aa Karaala Ratri(2018).^[8]

Soundtrack

Shankar Guru
Soundtrack cover
Soundtrack album by Upendra Kumar
Released	1978
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Label	Saregama

The music of the film was composed by Upendra Kumar with lyrics for the soundtrack penned by Chi. Udaya Shankar.

Awards

1977–78 Karnataka State Film Awards

• Best Editor – P. Bhaktavatsalam

References

External links

• Shankar Guru on IMDb

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