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Karnan is a film of genre Drama directed by B. R. Panthulu with Sivaji Ganesan

Karnan (1964)

Karnan
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Length 3h
Directed by
Genres Drama,    Biography,    Action,    Historical
Rating82% 4.11914.11914.11914.11914.1191

Karnan is a 1964 Indian Tamil epic-biographical film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. It features Sivaji Ganesan leading an ensemble cast consisting of N. T. Rama Rao, S. A. Asokan, R. Muthuraman, Devika, Savithri and M. V. Rajamma. The film is based on the story of Karna, a character from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is born to an unmarried mother Kunti who abandons him in the Ganges to avoid embarrassment. The child is discovered and adopted by a charioteer. Karnan does not want to follow his foster father's profession, and instead, becomes a warrior. He then befriends Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince, eventually setting the initial grounds of the Kurukshetra war, where he will join Duryodhana to fight against his own half-brothers, the Pandavas.

Karnan, which was officially launched in 1963, was Ganesan's costliest production. It was the first Tamil film to be shot in the palaces of Jaipur and the war sequences were filmed in Kurukshetra, which featured several soldiers from the Indian Army. The film's original soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan. The dialogues were written by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy, and the screenplay by A. S. Nagarajan. Karnan was considered a milestone in Tamil cinema as it brought together the then leading actors of South Indian cinema, Ganesan and Rama Rao.

The film was dubbed in Telugu as Karna, and also in Hindi as Dhaan Veer Karna. Karnan was released on 14 January 1964, during the festival occasion of Pongal, and received critical acclaim, with Ganesan and Rama Rao's performances being widely lauded. Despite this, it became a commercial failure, but ran for over 100 days in some theatres. The film also won the Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film at the 11th National Film Awards. A digitised version of Karnan was released in March 2012 to critical and commercial success, eventually establishing a trend of re-releasing digitised versions of old films in Tamil cinema.

Synopsis

Unmarried princess Kunti is blessed by the Sun god with a baby boy, which she abandons in the Ganges to avoid embarrassment. The boy is rescued and adopted by charioteer Athirathan, who names him Karnan. Years later, the now-grown up Karnan realises that Athirathan is only his adoptive father and feels heartbroken. He does not want to become a charioteer like Athirathan, and instead chooses to become a warrior. He masters archery and challenges the Pandava prince Arjuna in a contest. Karnan is insulted on account of his lowly birth, but the Kaurava prince and cousin of the Pandavas, Duryodhana, saves his pride, and gives him the kingdom of Anga. Karnan thus becomes the close friend of Duryodhana and his wife Bhanumati.

Actors

Sivaji Ganesan

(Karnan)Kommareddy Savitri

(Bhanumathi)Ashokan

(Duryodhana)Devika

(Subhangi)S. A. Ashokan

(Duryodhana, Karnan's best friend and the eldest of the Kauravas)
And :
R. Muthuraman
M. V. Rajamma
V.S. Raghavan
Javar Sitaraman
Trailer of Karnan

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

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