Daana Veera Soora Karna
| Daana Veera Soora Karna | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | N. T. Rama Rao |
| Written by | N. T. Rama Rao Kondaveeti Venkatakavi (dialogues) |
| Based on | Life of Karna |
| Produced by | N. T. Rama Rao |
| Starring | N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Balakrishna Nandamuri Harikrishna B. Saroja Devi Prabha |
| Cinematography | Kannappa |
| Edited by | G. D. Joshi |
| Music by | Pendyala Nageswara Rao |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Mayuri |
Release date |
|
Running time | 226 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹10 lakh[1] |
| Box office | est. ₹1.5–2 crore[1][2] |
Daana Veera Soora Karna (transl. Generous, heroic, and valiant Karna) is a 1977 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film co-written, produced and directed by N. T. Rama Rao under his banner, Ramakrishna Cine Studios. Based on the life of Karna from the Mahabharata, it stars Rama Rao in three roles: the title character Karna, Duryodhana, and Krishna. It also stars Rama Rao's sons Nandamuri Harikrishna and Nandamuri Balakrishna, who play the roles of Arjuna and Abhimanyu, respectively. Music for the film was composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao.[3]
Made on a budget of ₹10 lakh, the film was a commercial success and became the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time collecting a distributor share of ₹1.5–2 crore.[1][2] It is regarded as one of the greatest films of Telugu cinema.[1]
Plot
[edit]A baby is discovered floating in the Ganga river by a charioteer named Adhiratha, who adopts and names the boy Karna. As Karna grows up, he witnesses the injustice of Dronacharya removing Ekalavya's thumb to ensure Arjuna becomes the foremost archer. Outraged by this act, Karna vows to one day surpass Arjuna.
Karna later becomes a student of Parasurama, seeking to master the art of archery. One day, while Parasurama sleeps, Indra, disguised as an insect, bites Karna. Despite the pain, Karna remains still to avoid waking his guru. When Parasurama sees the blood, he mistakenly believes Karna to be of the Kshatriya caste and curses that Karna's skills would fail him when he needs them the most. Although Parasurama later realizes that Karna is a Sūtaputra (son of a charioteer), he cannot revoke the curse.
During his travels, Karna attempts to save a Brahmin's cow from Indra, who is in the form of a lion. Failing to do so, Karna incurs another curse from the Brahmin, foretelling that Karna will die in a helpless situation. Additionally, Karna, moved by a young girl's distress, squeezes ghee from the soil to restore her spilled offering. For disturbing the earth, Bhudevi curses Karna that his chariot wheel will get stuck in the ground at a critical moment during battle.
At an archery competition in Hastinapuram, Karna arrives to challenge Arjuna but is insulted due to his lower birth. Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince, defends Karna by crowning him king of Anga. Grateful, Karna pledges his loyalty to Duryodhana, and the two become close friends. When Dharmaraja, the eldest Pandava, challenges Duryodhana to a dice game, Duryodhana loses everything to Sakuni's manipulation, forcing the Pandavas into exile.
As tensions rise before the Kurukshetra War, Lord Krishna reveals Karna’s true parentage—he is Kunti's firstborn son and the eldest Pandava. However, Karna remains loyal to Duryodhana. During the war preparations, Bhishma, the Kaurava commander, refuses to allow Karna to fight, labeling him "Ardharatha" (half a charioteer), a term implying his lower status. Karna swears not to fight until Bhishma is incapacitated. After Bhishma falls on the battlefield, Karna receives his blessing and joins the war.
On the battlefield, Karna faces Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son, who has been wreaking havoc on the Kaurava forces. Duryodhana orders Karna to destroy Abhimanyu's bow, which leads to Abhimanyu's death. Karna mourns the loss, recognizing Abhimanyu’s courage and lamenting his role in the young warrior's death.
Later, Kunti approaches Karna and begs him to join the Pandavas or at least spare them in battle. Karna agrees not to kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna, promising that Kunti will still have five sons, whether he or Arjuna survives. During the subsequent battles, Karna repeatedly spares the lives of the Pandavas, though he defeats them in combat. After the deaths of his own sons at the hands of the Pandavas, Karna declares that he has sacrificed his sons for Kunti's.
Indra, disguised as a Brahmin, tricks Karna into surrendering his divine armor (Kavacha) and earrings (Kundala), which protect him from harm. In return, Indra gives him a powerful weapon, the Vasavi Sakthi, for one-time use. Though Karna hopes to use this weapon against Arjuna, he is forced to deploy it during a night attack, losing his advantage.
On the final day of battle, Salya, an uncle of the Pandavas, serves as Karna’s charioteer and demoralizes him, as per Krishna’s plan. Karna's accumulated curses take effect as his chariot wheel becomes stuck in the battlefield. In his moment of helplessness, Karna calls upon Arjuna to honour the warrior code and allow him to free his chariot, but Krishna urges Arjuna to strike. Arjuna kills Karna, aided by Krishna's guidance.
After Karna's death, Krishna explains Karna's sacrifices and valoir to Arjuna. Kunti reveals Karna’s true identity to the Pandavas, leading Dharmaraja to curse all women for keeping secrets. Karna's soul ascends to Surya, the Sun God. Duryodhana mourns the loss of his closest friend and attempts to abandon the war, but Krishna convinces him to continue.
In the final duel, Duryodhana chooses Bhima as his opponent. Following Krishna's advice, Bhima strikes Duryodhana's thigh, a dishonorable move that ultimately kills him. As Duryodhana lies dying, he questions Krishna's righteousness. After their deaths, Karna and Duryodhana are reunited in heaven, their unbreakable bond enduring beyond life.
Cast
[edit]Source:[3]
- N. T. Rama Rao as Srikrishna, Karna, and Duryodhana (triple role)
- Nandamuri Balakrishna as Abhimanyu
- Nandamuri Harikrishna as Arjuna
- Satyanarayana as Bhima
- S. Varalakshmi as Kunti
- Gummadi as Parashurama
- Dhulipala Seetarama Sastry as Shakuni
- Mikkilineni as Bhishma
- Mukkamala as Shalya
- Rajanala as Drona
- M. Prabhakar Reddy as Dharma Raju
- P. J. Sarma as Vidura
- Chalapathi Rao as Indra, Adhiratha, Jarasandha and Dhrishtadyumna (quadruple role)
- Jagga Rao as Dushasana
- Jaya Bhaskar as Ekalavya and Surya (dual role)
- Sharada as Draupadi
- Kanchana as Subhadra
- B. Saroja Devi as Vrishali
- Prabha as Bhanumati
- Rajasree
- Deepa as Uttara
- Jayamalini as Dancer
- Helen as Dancer
Chalapathi Rao performed four roles and also appeared in two other costumes as disguises of Indra, while Jaya Bhaskar did a dual role.
Production
[edit]Daana Veera Soora Karna was launched on 7 June 1976 at Ramakrishna Cine Studios, Hyderabad by M. G. Ramachandran who also clapped the first shot of the film.[3] Rama Rao initially wanted Akkineni Nageswara Rao to play the role of Krishna as he was already playing the roles of Suyodhana and Karna. However Nageswara Rao said that the "Pandavas should appear shorter when shown by his side, and that'd spoil the overall screen presence" so it was also portrayed as Rama Rao.[3] Kondaveeti Venkatakavi who was a principal of Sanskrit college was chosen to write the film's dialogues.
When Rama Rao was planning this film, the same time Krishna planned to make Kurukshetram (1977), another film based on Mahabharata which lead Ramarao to start this immediately with an intent to release the film on Sankranti sooner. The film was completely shot in 43 working days at Ramakrishna Cine Studios thus becoming the first film to be shot there.[3]
Soundtrack
[edit]The music was composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao.[4]
S. Rajeswara Rao was initially the music director for the film, and set the songs "Ye Thalli Ninu Kannadho" and the verses were to music. The rest of the soundtrack was completed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. However, the title card shows only Pendyala's name.[3]
The film has ten songs and 35 verses. Most of the verses are taken from Paandavodyoga Vijayam and Sree Krishna Raayabaram by the poet duo Tirupati Venkata Kavulu. Pundareekakshayya secured the rights to use the verses when working on the film Sreekrishnaavataaram. They were sought for the competing film Kuruskshetram but Pundareekakshayya instead gave the rights to Rama Rao.[3]
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Peesapati Raghuramayya sang initial versions of the Raayabaram verses, which were re-recorded by V. Ramakrishna.[3]
Padmalaya Studios secured the rights of Ghantasala's Bhagavadgeeta audio after his death and used those verses in Kurukshetram, while DVS Karna used "prosaic" Bhagavadgeeta for the most part.[3]
The dialogues of the film also became very popular,[3] and were released as LP and audio cassettes by HMV.
| No. | Song Title | Lyrics | Singers | length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ey Thalli Ninu Kannadho" | C. Narayana Reddy | P. Susheela | 3:05 |
| 2 | "Jayeebhava Vijayeebhava" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, G. Anand | 3:21 | |
| 3 | "Chithram Bhalaare Vichitram" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela | 3:23 | |
| 4 | "Telisenule Priyaa Rasikaa" | S. Janaki, P. Susheela | 4:32 | |
| 5 | "Raara Itu Raara" | S. Janaki | 3:23 | |
| 6 | "Anna Devudu Ledanna" | S. Janaki | 3:13 | |
| 7 | "Idhira Dhora Madhiraa" | S. Janaki | 3:58 | |
| 8 | "Eyla Santhaapammu" | V. Ramakrishna | 4:03 | |
| 9 | "Kalagantino Swamy" | Dasaradhi | Madhavapeddi Ramesh, P. Susheela | 3:57 |
Release
[edit]The film was approved by censors on 12 January 1977 and released on 14 January. Gemini film labs was unable to print all 30 orders of the film in the time available, so its premiered was limited to 14 cinemas on the day of its release.[3] The film ran for 100 days in 9 cinemas[5] and 250 days at the Hyderabad Shanti Theatre.[6]
With a budget of less than ₹10 lakh, the film earned more than ₹1 crore in its first run. It was sold for ₹60 lakh for a 1994 re-release, with 30 prints earning more than ₹1 crore.
It was the second Telugu film after Lava Kusa to gross ₹1 crore and the first Telugu film to collect ₹2 crore (with an average ticket price being ₹1 in 1977).[6]
In the first twenty years after its release, the film sold the highest number of tickets, beating all the new releases for the year in 13 different years.[citation needed][dubious – discuss]
Awards
[edit]- P. Susheela won Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Ye Thalli Ninu Kannado"[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d K., Janani (11 April 2020). "Quarantine Curation: 20 classic South Indian films that deserve a watch during lockdown". India Today. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ a b Tanmayi, Bhawana (8 July 2017). "Highlighting the goodness of Karna, Suyodhana". Telangana Today. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chinarayana, Pulagam (17 January 2017). "Daana Veera Soora Karna - Retrospective". Telugu Cinema. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ "Dhana Veera Soora Karna (1977)-Song_Booklet". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Nonstopcinema Box Office – Balayya 100 days films list: Telugu movies, Tollywood, cinema
- ^ a b "CineGoer.com – Box-Office Records And Collections – Silver Jubilee Films Of NTR". 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
- ^ "Andhra Patrika ఆంధ్ర పత్రిక Volume 72 Issue 16". 29 December 1978.
