Swarnakamalam

Infobox Film
name = Swarnakamalam


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director = K Vishwanath
producer = Ch Appa Rao
writer = K Vishwanath
narrator =
starring = Venkatesh,
Bhanupriya,
Sakshi Ranga Rao,
Srilakshmi
music = Ilayaraja
cinematography = Lok Singh
editing =
distributor =
released =
runtime =
country = India
language = Telugu
budget =
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website =
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imdb_id =

"Swarnakamalam"(Telugu: స్వర్ణ కమలం English: The Golden Lotus) is a 1988 movie directed by K Vishwanath . It starred Venkatesh ,Bhanupriya, and a host of character actors like Devilalitha, Sakshi Ranga Rao, and Srilakshmi who were regulars in Telugu cinema of the eighties.Ilayaraja was the music director, Lok Singh the cinematographer, and Ch. Appa Rao the producer.It is widely regarded as a tour-de-force , in K Vishwanath tradition, on classical dance,which also happened to be commercially sustainable.

Cast

* Bhanupriya ... Meenakshi
* Venkatesh ... Chandrasekhar
* Devilalita ... Savitri
* Sakshi Ranga Rao ... Omkaram
* Srilakshmi ... Akhilandeshwari

Plot

Meenakshi(Bhanupriya) and Savitri(Devilalitha) are two daughters of a Kuchipudi doyen, Seshendra Shastry. While a highly accomplished artiste in his field, Seshendra Shastry is not well-off, and so has not been able to afford his daughters a conventional education. Both of them have achieved a respectable degree of proficiency - Savitri in Carnatic Classical Music, and Meenakshi in classical dance. Savitri is grateful for her knowledge and interest, and looks forward to a life that will require her to hone her skills in the same art. Meenakshi, on the other hand, is bitter about the lack of opportunity that she feels saddled with, and resolves to make a simpler and more pleasurable life for herself as soon as possible, while confiding her ambitions only to her sister at this stage.

Chandrasekhar(Venkatesh) is a tenant who has just moved in next door. He is a painter by profession, and is shown to be handling movie promotions as a large chunk of his work. He develops an interest in the neighbours and tries to help them in whatever way he possibly can, partly because of his(unconfessed) interest in Meenakshi, and partly because of his interest in the art which seems to be slowing fading away from public life.

The rest of the movie is largely built around on Meenakshi's personal journey from skepticism to devotion in her pursuit of dance. Chandrasekhar is shown to be an important catalyst in this transformation.

Locations

The high quality of the choreography in the song sequences demanded a set of locations that were spread across the country. They included Puri in Orissa, The Himalayas, the Stupa at Sanchi, Vishakapatnam, and others.

Creative Contributions

K Vishwanath,Ilayaraja,Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry,Lok Singh, and other people crafted together an ambitious canvas for the movie. Many sequences were shot in silhouettes for allegorical purposes, sometimes with the sun or the moon as real props to support to the imagery of the rich poetry. The intent in Ghallu Ghallu,Kothaga Rekkalochchena,Siva Poojaku, and Andela Ravamidi was tangential to the prevailing mores that advocated songs for the sake of pure entertainment.