Every maestro worth his music knows that it is a game of providence which brings a great guru and a great shishya together. Sankara Shastri’s legacy would end with him if he does not annoint a successor to his musical tradition.
SANKARABHARANAM SONG MOVIE
Incidentally, Sankarabharanam literally means a snake!īut the most touching aspect of the movie is the focus on the Guru-shishya parampara. Her desire to get salvation for the poison in her womb (the illegetimate child) through his tutelage under Shastri is compared to the salvation that Vasuki, the serpent, seeks through his union with Shiva. Tulasi is a metaphor for the inner purity that is found wanting in the society and hence is left misunderstood by it. Vishwanath was passing a social comment through the higher love of Shastri and Tulasi. It was quite a bold attempt to portray a love-story, bordering around devotion, between a classical maestro and a prostitute. Sankarabharam had a story which was unconventional and difficult to sell. It would be a misnomer to say that Sankarabharanam owes its cult status to its songs alone. He respects all traditions, even the western ones in the movie.
Vishwanath does not devalue western music to elevate Carnatic classical in his work. Vishwanath himself tried to replicate the success with movies like Saptapadi, Swarna Kamalam and Sagara Sangamam but he could not better his own masterpiece. It was also released in Malayalam with the songs in Telugu. If Somayajulu gave a face to Shankara Shastri, it was S.P who gave a soul and voice to it.Ī flurry of movies in the South Indian film industry followed Sankarabharanam, most being cheap imitations of the classic, though none could match its glory or popularity. But the surprise in the pack was S.P.Balasubramanian, who, without any formal training in classical music, sang one kirtanam after another to thunderous applause. Casting the songs in the melliflous mould of Carnatic music, Mahadevan scored hit after hit, bringing popular carnatic compositions like Manasa Sanchara re and Brocheva revarura closer to the masses. It would be an understantement to say that the movie stood largely on the gigantic pillar called Mahadevan, who was also the first music director to win a National Award for Best Music Direction in 1967 for Kandan Karunai. K.Vishwanath got musical maestro K.V.Mahadevan to score the music of Sankarabharanam. In 1952, Prakash Pictures’ Baiju Bawra took classical music to the homes of the common man. Sankarabharam did to Carnatic music what Baiju Bawra did to Hindustani music in the north. Today he is the living legend of Carnatic music Padmabhushan Dr. A young student of his, Murali Krishna attained fame in the world of classcial music at the age of eight. The movie is believed to be loosely based on the life of ` Gayaka Sarvabhauma’ Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu, who was fourth in the lineage of saint Thyagaraja. But her son is alive, to carry forward the parampara of music to yet another age. Tulsi too collapses then and there at his feet. Shastri annoints him his successor and falls dead after passing on the legacy.
Tulasi’s son starts from where his guru ends and completes the song. But he is unable to sing and is overcome by a fit of cough. He finds his long-lost audience, who return to him and he performs after many years. The day of marriage marks a new beginning for Shastri. Unknown to Shastri, Tulasi helps him by repaying his dues to the money-lender. But Shastri no more commands wealth as he did in the days of yore and is deep under debt. Shastri’s daughter gets a marriage proposal.
He washes his clothes, helps him bathe, presses his feet and cooks for him. Shastri takes the boy under his tutelage and thus begins a wonderful journey of the teacher and student. Tulasi sends her 12-year old son to learn classical music from Shastri but tells him not to reveal his identity. Classical music is no more popular and Shastri has lost his concert and audience. Tulasi leaves him, not wanting to be the cause of his defamy. Shastri takes Tulasi to his home, earning defamy and ostracization in his village. One day, Tulasi kills a Zamindar who rapes her and seeks refuge under Shastri. He is worshipped and adored by the daughter of a prostitute Tulasi, who seeks liberation through his music and learns music from him by observing him. The movie, which mainly delves on the guru-shishya parampara and the divinity of classical music, has Somayajulu playing Shankara Shastri, a classical vocalist and a living legend, who is revered by all as Saraswati putra.
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