Premada Kanike

Premada Kanike (transl. A Token of Love) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language thriller film directed by V. Somashekhar and produced by Jayadevi. The film starred Rajkumar, Aarathi and Jayamala. The songs composed by Upendra Kumar were received extremely well and considered as evergreen hits. The story of the movie was written by the acclaimed duo Salim–Javed who made their South Indian debut as original story writers for which they partially rehashed an old story by Salim Khan.[1] This was Salim-Javed's first release after Sholay.[2]

Premada Kanike
Poster
Directed byV. Somashekhar
Produced byJayadevi
Screenplay byChi. Udaya Shankar
Story bySalim–Javed
StarringRajkumar
Aarathi
Jayamala
Music byUpendra Kumar
CinematographyD. V. Rajaram
Edited byP. Bhakthavathsalam
Production
company
Jayadevi Films
Release date
  • 1976 (1976)
Running time
151 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

The film upon release was declared a blockbuster at the box-office and established a cult status for all the crime-thriller genre films. The movie is noted for merging romantic story with thriller genre. It was appreciated for having redefined the thriller genre in the industry.[3] The film saw a theatrical run of 25 weeks.[4] It went on to win multiple awards and accolades including the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Film.

The story is about a teacher and her nephew hired by rich family to teach their daughter. One day she witnesses a murder in a train and discovers that the murderer is the father of her student. The girl who plays her student, is the real-life daughter of Rajkumar.[5] It also features his youngest son Puneeth Rajkumar in a minor role of an infant.[6] It was remade in Tamil in 1980 as Polladhavan and in Hindi in 1981 as Raaz.[3]

Plot

Seetha (Aarathi), a young woman, is travelling via train with her nephew Raju to an estate to attend her job interview as a nanny to the estate merchant Manohar( Rajkumar)'s daughter. Her co-passenger tries to rape her but suddenly he is shot dead. Seetha sees the murderer and clearly remembers his face and reports the murder to Moorthy, a police inspector. Then she is appointed for the nanny position and she and Manohar's daughter Shoba grow fond of each other.

Manohar, who is extremely fond of his daughter returns from his journey. Seetha meets him, only to realize that he is the murderer she saw on the train. Manohar threatens Seetha not to tell anyone and makes sure to prevent her from leaving his estate as she is keen on reporting him to the police.

Seetha tries many times to escape but is always caught. She does not even tell the police when she meets them as Manohar threatens to kill Raju if she did. Later, Seetha somehow sees beneath the rough, mean Manohar and grows fond of him but is confused why such a nice man is acting so arrogantly.

In flashbacks, Manohar and Kumudha fell in love and married, shortly thereafter their daughter Shoba was born. Kumudha's uncle Chandru, who was eager to marry Kumudha but who was sent to jail by Manohar as he tried to kill both Manohar and Kumudha was released from jail as his term had finished. When Manohar was out of house, Chandru raped Kumudha; due to this she commits suicide and Manohar wants to die with her but she makes him vow that he will get revenge on Chandru for separating them and to take care of Shoba well. Manohar also reveals that the man he killed on the train was Chandru.

Seetha now understands his acts and vows not to tell anyone. Moorthy's colleague is curious about Seetha; she said that she remembered the face and was eager to find the murderer, but now she had told him she has forgotten the face, hence he suspects Seetha to be the murderer, and Moorthy agrees with his belief. On Shoba's birthday, Manohar is to announce that he is to hand over all his wealth to Seetha and surrender to the police, but before this the police arrive and try to arrest Seetha. Manohar saves her by confessing to the murder and went to trail explained his actions but a crippled assassin came to court to tell truth about Chandu's death and he relived be Kumudha's brother. in the end he say goodbye to Shobha and Manohar as Seetha and Manohar lived together as family with Shoba and Raju

Cast

Production

Large portions of the film were extensively shot in the Kashmir valley. This was rare for a Kannada film of 1970s due to the elevation of production costs which such a location could have caused then.

Soundtrack
Premada Kanike
Soundtrack album by
Upendra Kumar
Released1976
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LabelSaregama

Upendra Kumar composed the music for the soundtracks and lyrics were penned by Chi. Udaya Shankar and Vijaya Narasimha.

Tracklist
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Putta Putta"Chi. Udaya ShankarS. Janaki 
2."Baanigondu Elle Ellide"Chi. Udaya ShankarRajkumar 
3."Chinna Endu Naguthiru"Chi. Udaya ShankarP. B. Sreenivas 
4."Idu Yaaru Bareda Katheyo"Chi. Udaya ShankarRajkumar 
5."Naguveya Henne Naanu"Vijaya NarasimhaRajkumar, H. P. Geetha 
6."Na Bidalare Endu Ninna"Vijaya NarasimhaRajkumar, Vani Jairam 

Awards
1975–76 Karnataka State Film Awards

References
  1. "10 things you may not know about Javed Akhtar". Mid Day. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "Best Kannada Thrillers From Different Eras Now Available On OTT". Film Companion. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. "Did you know Puneeth Rajkumar was a part of Rajkumar's 'Premada Kanike'?". Deccan Herald. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  4. http://www.sandalwoodking.rocks/threads/all-time-blockbusters-posters-data.3742/page-9
  5. "Rajkumar's legacy". Rediff.com. 17 April 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  6. "Destiny's children". DNA India. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.