| Name | : | Chakrathari | |
| Release Date | : | 03-Dec-1948 | |
| Parent Category | : | History | |
| Format | : | 35MM | |
| Language | : | Tamil | |
| Rating | : | U |
Chakradhari 1948
| Chittoor V. Nagaiah, Pushpavalli, Suryaprabha, L. Narayana Rao and T. N. Kamalam |
a popular folk tale Chakradhari
A Gemini Studios production, Chakradhari, which was a box-office success, had an impressive cast — Nagaiah played the protagonist Gora Kumbhar and Pushpavalli, his wife. Well-known character actor Narayana Rao and singing actor Nagercoil K. Mahadevan lent able support. The later day matinee idol of Tamil cinema, ‘Gemini’ Ganesh, played the minor role of Lord Panduranga and was credited in the titles as R. Ganesh. He was then on the rolls of Gemini Studios as casting superintendent.
Chakradhari was another version of the popular Maharashtrian folk tale of the potter-saint, Gora, a staunch devotee of Panduranga, the presiding deity of the famous temple at Pandaripur in Maharashtra.
This tale has been filmed many times in many languages such as Marathi, Hindi, Kannada, Hindi and twice in Tamil. The Kannada version directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthi with the Karnataka icon Rajkumar as Gora was a major hit. Chakradhari is all about Gora, a potter who lives with wife Thulasi and child Hari in Thodaki, a village near Pandaripur in Maharashtra. Gora’s religious pre-occupation disturbs his calling. He does not care for money and such mundane things. Consequently he and his wife argue over them constantly.
Venkat, Gora’s affluent elder brother, marries a young woman Sona. She hates Gora and his family and plans to ruin them. One day, Gora while mixing clay and water goes into devotional ecstasy and fails to notice his son Hari coming towards him to play in the mound of clay. Unconsciously Gora kills his son by stamping him.
Heartbroken, Thulasi threatens to break the idol of Panduranga, her husband worships, and Gora picks up his axe to kill her. She tells him not to touch her for the rest of her life and Gora takes such a vow.
Thulasi gets her sister Shantha married to her husband so that a child will be born to bring joy to the grief-filled home. Thulasi’s father makes Gora promise him that he would treat Thulasi and Shantha alike. Much to the shock of the sisters, Gora refuses to touch Shantha too!
One night the sisters try to seduce Gora while he is asleep. Shocked on waking up, the pious potter cuts his hands off for breaking his vow!
Panduranga and his consort Rukmini visit Gora in disguise and work as his domestic servants. Their divine presence restores happiness. Hari comes back to life. Sona is punished for her misdeeds. Gora gets back his hands and the family lives happily thereafter singing the praise of Panduranga.
Chakradhari was directed by the old-timer K. S. Gopalakrishnan, and had melodious music. Some of the songs rendered by Nagaiah (‘Unakkum enakkum enna poruthamaiyyaa’) and T. V. Rathnam (‘Aadavaruvayaa kannaa’) proved popular. M. D. Parthasarathy composed the music. ‘Thambu’ (C. V. Ramakrishnan) received appreciation for his cinematography.
Remembered for its soul-filling music, fine photography and Nagaiah’s performance.
Source:
www.hindu.com/.../stories/
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