Nagamandala

Nagamandala
Directed byT. S. Nagabharana
Written byGirish Karnad
Produced bySrihari L. Khoday
StarringPrakash Raj
Vijayalakshmi
Mandya Ramesh
B. Jayashree
Vanitha Vasu
CinematographyG.S. Bhaskar
Music byC. Ashwath
Release date
  • 1997 (1997)
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

Nagamandala (lit. 'Nāga Mandala'; transl. Serpent Ritual) is a 1997 Indian Kannada-language drama film, directed by T. S. Nagabharana and written by Girish Karnad.[1] Produced by Srihari L. Khoday with music by C. Aswath,[2] It is an adaptation of a 1988 play by Karnad with the same name which is based on a local folk tale and ritual.[3] It stars Prakash Raj and Vijayalakshmi in the lead roles. The film depicts a romantic plot between a woman and a snake in the disguise of her uncaring husband.

The film, upon release, went on to win many prestigious awards for its content and screen adaptation. The soundtrack, consisting of 15 tracks, tuned by C. Ashwath became very popular for the folksy touch. Vijayalakshmi won Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada for her performance in this film.[4]

Karnad's play has been compared with Vijaydan Detha's 1970s Rajasthani folkloric short story Duvidha which has a similar plotline and has also been cited as a source for this film.[5][6] Detha's story was adapted into a 1973 film with the same name, which was later remade into the 2005 film Paheli (reportedly also inspired by this film).[6][7]

It was selected for the Indian Panorama section at the 28th International Film Festival of India in 1997.[8]

  1. ^ "Book Review: Nagamandala by Girish Karnad". Feminism in India. 11 April 2019.
  2. ^ C Ashwath (1997). "Nagamandala (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Gaana. Jhankar Music.
  3. ^ The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2011.
  4. ^ "45th Filmfare South Best Actresses : Santosh : Free Download & Stream…". 5 February 2017. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017.
  5. ^ Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. University of Kansas. 2014. p. 66.
  6. ^ a b Martins, Constantino; Damásio, Manuel (15 August 2016). Seduction in Popular Culture, Psychology, and Philosophy. IGI Global. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-5225-0526-6. Detha's ostensibly simple folktale published in of the 1970s, with its multi-layered texture, has become a favorite for film makers: two veteran film directors – Mani Kaul (who made Duvidha in 1973) and T.S. Nagabharana (made Nagamandala in Kannada, in 1997) before Palekar-Gokhale remade it as Paheli in 2005.
  7. ^ "Top ten Kannada films to have been remade". Times of India.
  8. ^ "Popular Kannada movies that you should not miss | Deccan Herald -".