K. Vishwanath, A Telugu Legendary Director Options

[swarapriya]

K. Vishwanath - A Telugu Legendary Director

Vishwanath is a distinguished director of Telugu film industry who also made himself name with several good Hindi movies. For a long time, he was an assistant to the Telugu film director Adurti Subba Rao (director of “Doli” starring Rajesh Khanna). He got a major break with Annapurna Studio’s home production in 1965 as a director for the film “Aatma Gowravam”. Even though the movie was not a money spinner, it didn’t loose its investments.

From that time onwards Vishwanath started making movies on a regular basis, some of them big hits. But not until 1980’s his full potential was realized. This started with “Shankarabharanam” which dealt with disappearing classical music of India. This movie fetched him President’s Gold Medal as the best picture for that year. In 1985 he made “Saptapadi” which dealt with intercast marriage issues. He also made “Swati Mutyam” the same year that dealt with an adult with a child’s mind and how he deals with struggles in his life. He made a movie in 1986, “Sirivennela”, that dealt with a deaf woman’s relationship with a blind man. The film “Swayam Krishi” made in 1987 dealt with issues related to work attitudes. He continued to make other fine movies through rest of the 80’s and into 90’s. Currently he only makes movies occasionally. Instead he has diverted his efforts into acting.

Some of Vishwanath’s Hindi movies include “Sargam”, “Kaam Chor”, and “Eeshwar”. Altogether he directed 55 movies. Of these 44 were in Telugu, one was in Tamil, and ten were in Hindi. In 1985 alone, he made three Hindi movies and two Telugu movies! His complete filmography as a director is shown below (H is for Hindi and T is for Tamil in the table).

Most of the albums from the period when Vishwanath found his groove and hit the stride are currently available in the marketplace in one form or another. It is the early albums that everyone has problems procuring them. Recently a friend of mine gave several albums including now “never to be found again” LPs that cover some of this early work. I will try to share as much of this music as possible through this thread provided there is enough interest.

Because of the popularity it has gained, and being considered to be a landmark achievement in Telugu cinema history, I will start with uploading songs of “Shankarabharanam” first.

[simplefable]

SP..This is a laudable thread. K.Viswanath is a Genius of a director and his films stand a testimony to his prowess..Sankarabharanam is his Magnum Opus..undoubtedly as it came at a time when Western music started swaying Indian youth..It is very endearing to me..as i saw it in a phase of my life when i immediately connected to that film. I can almost recite the whole film ..dialogue by dialogue. the only one i guess,though i have seen only a couple of times..such was my devotion for that film.
The theaters where it played were empty for the first week...then the rush picked up. In my home town, the film ran for a whole year !!
Immediately after the film, parents started their kids on classical music and dance programs..and even dresses came out with that label " Sankarabharanam dress".
The best dialogue of the film..in my view is when Sankara Sastri says " Music is divine whether it is western or indian. Who are we to deride one form or another ? It is like Perennial river...for all of us to immerse and enjoy and get enriched ".
Whew...can talk endless on this one film.
Unfortunately, Viswanath's films never had that finesse when remade in Hindi....almost all were kind of Southish... Thus ensuring rejection of most of them.
The film Sankarabharanam was made into Hindi as Sur Sangam..starring Girish Karnad. but didnt carry the kind of conviction it had in parent language...
Will keep watching this thread closely..and contribute and enjoy the songs.. Thanks a Zillion !

[sangeetbhakt]

SP..This is a laudable thread. K.Viswanath is a Genius of a director and his films stand a testimony to his prowess..Sankarabharanam is his Magnum Opus..undoubtedly as it came at a time when Western music started swaying Indian youth..It is very endearing to me..as i saw it in a phase of my life when i immediately connected to that film. I can almost recite the whole film ..dialogue by dialogue. the only one i guess,though i have seen only a couple of times..such was my devotion for that film.
The theaters where it played were empty for the first week...then the rush picked up. In my home town, the film ran for a whole year !!
Immediately after the film, parents started their kids on classical music and dance programs..and even dresses came out with that label " Sankarabharanam dress".
The best dialogue of the film..in my view is when Sankara Sastri says " Music is divine whether it is western or indian. Who are we to deride one form or another ? It is like Perennial river...for all of us to immerse and enjoy and get enriched ".
Whew...can talk endless on this one film.
Unfortunately, Viswanath's films never had that finesse when remade in Hindi....almost all were kind of Southish... Thus ensuring rejection of most of them.
The film Sankarabharanam was made into Hindi as Sur Sangam..starring Girish Karnad. but didnt carry the kind of conviction it had in parent language...
Will keep watching this thread closely..and contribute and enjoy the songs.. Thanks a Zillion !

I am a huge fan of the music in this film. Every song is an amazing composition and impeccably rendered.
Finally, just a couple of days back, I got a copy of the film with sub-titles. Don't know how good or bad
they are since I have not seen the film yet. But I always felt like I missed out on some of the subtleties of
the film since I did not understand every word of it.

SP, couple of corrections to your song/singer list.

• Broche va revaru ra is a duet by Vani and SPB. Vani's rendition is extraordinary, particularly the fast swarams.
• MaaNikya veeNam is a solo by SPB, not a duet.

While Janaki is very good in this film, Vani totally outshines her IMO. Her rendition of "Maanasa sanchara
re" is worth the price of admission.