Sankarabharanam

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.

I watched it when i was a kid, and was bored to death. I always loved the music of this film, but i could never understand whats happening. After listening to all the praise from so many friends, I rented it again at the age of 22. I am glad I did, this is movie making at its best.

Its much more than classical music. It is about life ingeneral, relation ship between a Guru and his devoted pupil, a young couple who fell in love, a child who steps in to takes up his mothers place ... and many more stories beautifully woven into one wonderful ragamalika.

I would recommend this movie to all

Absolutely awe struck.

India has produced many great filmmakers but none appreciated and represented art like K. Viswanath did which he exhibits in each and every film of his.

Thus comes the name "KALATHAPASVI" His trademark is he selects an art form in each movie and relates it to real life personalities, complex and orthodox Brahmans or any other caste he portrays.

K. V. Mahadevan musical brilliance is one of the pillar which this movie stands tall even today.

SPB manipulation of his vocals to match the protagonist is absolutely mesmerizing.

Somayajulu popularly known as "SHANKARABHARANAM SHANKAR SASTRY" To this day tells us how he bought to life the character in this movie.

Manju Bhargavi is phenomenal with just her eyes doing all the performance in the movie and her expressions are self explanatory in every sense.

There is no better representation of how classical music coped up with sweeping western music and how it changed the life of people who mastered the art over years and all at once feels downtrodden due to fluctuations in admirers of art.

Yet how they stayed and continued in the same path is the essence of master from student.

This is one of the best movies from india and it's more than just a contribution to world cinema.

Those days people find it their absolute achievement if they watched this movie and there is a sense of devotion towards it.

Best of K. Viswanath and an asset to filmmaking.

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.