Sharapanjara - 1971 DD 5.1 DVD $7.99

Sharapanjara Kannada

Starring: Kalpana, Gangadhar, Chindodi Leela, Shivram, KS Ashwath, Leelavathi
Director: Puttanna Kanagal
Producer: C.S. Rajah
Music Dir: Vijaya Bhaskar
Lyricist: Vijaya Narasimha, Kanagal Prabhakara Sastry
Singers: Devadas, Susheela, P.B. Sreenivas, D.R. Bendre
Distributor: Aananda
Genre: Drama

Remade as Krishnaveni Telugu (1974) starring Vanisri

Synopsis
There is already a full synopsis on Wikipedia. However, that synopsis seems to tell more than is in the film, and I suspect was written by someone from the novel on which the film is based, rather than from the screenplay of the film – and it tells the story right to the end. So here’s a brief W.O.G.M.A. synopsis (WithOut Giving the Movie Away)

When Kaveri (Kalpana) and Sathish (Gangadhar) meet for the first time, Sathish falls in love with Kaveri who is an educated, sophisticated and beautiful girl, from a respectable family. Their marriage is arranged by their parents. They are a perfect couple. They are prosperous, they have a good home they have two sons, and they buy a car. Kaveri remembers being raped, and tells her husband, and loses her mental balance. She is taken to the Doctor, and then admitted to a mental hospital, where, after a stay of two years, she is cured and discharged. However, when she comes home, she is shunned by her husband, her family and society. Will she eventually be accepted and loved again? Watch the film to find out.

Songs:
1. Kodagina Kaaveri
2. Uttara Dhruvadim Dakshina Dhruvaku
3. Biligiri Rangayya Neene Helayya
4. Sandesha Megha Sandesha
5. Hadinaalku Varsha Vanavasadindha

Released Year: 1971
Running Time: 173 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review
The tile means “Cage of Arrows”, and we see this metaphor portrayed in the film. This is a very well directed and acted film, and won several awards and Kalpana’s performance was widely acclaimed by the critics. However, there is a big problem with the DVD. The picture quality is of very poor quality. There is an indication that it was made from a videotape, because at one point, there are the sort of lines across the picture that one gets when a videotape is damaged. This is a pity, because such a good film deserves digital re-mastering. But it may be that there are no copies of the original film still in existence to do this. The film tells a dreadful story, showing that at the time, a girl or a woman who was a rape victim was shunned by the family and by society, as being a “characterless woman” to quote the film. The film also shows that anyone who had been in a Mental Hospital, even though discharged as cured, was still regarded by Society as insane and that insanity was hereditary and would affect everyone in his or her family. I am not sure about this, but I believe that there now exists in India a more enlightened attitude to mental illness. However, the attitude to rape victims seems unchanged, as seen in films, and from the stories of girls committing suicide because of the shame of being raped. There are, however, signs that enlightenment is dawning on this subject too.

Anyway, if you want to watch an excellent award-winning and historical film, and can put up with very poor picture quality, this film is worth watching.

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