''Chalisuva Modagalu'' () is a 1982 Indian Kannada-language film directed by

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

. The film stars Rajkumar,

Saritha Saritha is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages. She was one of the popular and critically acclaimed lead actresses during the 1980s. She also appeared in a television serial, ' ...

Ambika Ambika may refer to: Mythology * Ambika (goddess), an avatar of the Hindu goddesses Durga, Parvati, and Shakti * Ambika (Jainism), a Jain Yakshini goddess * Ambika (Mahabharata), the wife of Vichitravirya was also the mother of Dhritarashtra, ...

and

K. S. Ashwath Karaganahalli Subbaraya Ashwathanarayana (25 March 1925 – 18 January 2010) was an Indian veteran actor who appeared in Kannada films He appeared in over 370 films during his five-decade-long career. His only memorial in the whole of Karnata ...

and

Puneeth Rajkumar Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), colloquially known as Appu, was an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter, and producer, who worked in Kannada cinema. He was the youngest son of actor and matinee idol Dr. Rajk ...

as a child artiste. The movie is well known for its evergreen songs which were composed by the musical duo

Rajan–Nagendra Rajan–Nagendra were an Indian musical duo who were prominent composers of film music in Kannada and Telugu cinema from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Rajan, along with his brother Nagendra, created a niche for themselves for nearly four de ...

. The film was a major success at the box office upon its release. The movie was remade in Telugu in 1983 as ''Rajakumar'' starring

Sobhan Babu Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao; 14 January 1937 – 20 March 2008) was an Indian actor known for his works in Telugu cinema.Bangaru Panjaram in Venditera Paatalu, Krishnasastri Sahityam, third volume, Vishalandhra Publishing House ...

with

reprising her role.

Synopsis

Mohan and Sheela are in love, but due to circumstances, Mohan ends up marrying Leela. After several years, Sheela lands up in jail on charges of murdering her husband. Mohan is defending her and has to argue against Leela, who is the public prosecutor. The rift caused between Mohan and Leela form the rest of the plot.

Plot

Mohan is a young, jovial lawyer practicing under his father Vishwanath Rao. Once in his friend's marriage, Mohan comes across Sheela and develops instant liking for her. Mohan meets Sheela frequently and befriends her. Soon Sheela also begins liking Mohan. Leela is Vishwanath's niece and a lawyer who is also practicing under Vishwanath. Both the families and Leela want her to marry Mohan. One day all of a sudden Sheela behaves strangely, tells Mohan to forget her and breaks her relationship with him. Soon she is married to her family friend. Unable to take this, Mohan is depressed and falls sick. Leela tends to Mohan all this time. Looking at Leela's selfless service and pure love for him, Mohan agrees to marry and lives happily with her. One day in the newspaper an article is published about a woman who killed her own husband. Mohan looks into the article and discovers that the woman is none other than Sheela. Mohan decides to take up the case and fight for Sheela as he knew that something is fishy here and that Sheela can never do anything as such. With the help of Murthy and his sister, Mohan gets to know that Sheela one evening on her way home was raped by his brother's friend. Feeling that she has spoilt her chastity and is no more fit to marry Mohan, Sheela behaves rudely with him and makes him forget her later marries the one who raped her. Now Mohan has to fight the case against his own wife, Leela. Both the lawyers try to prove their points. In one of the following court proceedings, Leela discovers that Mohan is Sheela's ex-lover. Furious Leela asks for a divorce from Mohan to which the latter disagrees. Vishwanath interrupts and explains why Mohan hid the truth from her and makes her realize how much love Mohan has for her. Now Leela too tries to understand from both the sides as to what has happened the night when Sheela's husband was killed. With the help of Ramu, both the lawyers discover that a lady who had been cheated by Sheela's husband had killed him. She accepts her crime and is imprisoned. Sheela is released from the jail. Sheela thanks the couple, Leela tells her that she would name her child Sheela if a girl is born in future.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music and background score was composed by

and the lyrics were penned by

Chi. Udaya Shankar Chitnahalli Udayashankar (18 February 1934 – 2 July 1993; born in Chitnahalli) was an Indian lyricist and dialogue writer in the Kannada film industry for over three decades, who penned more than 3000 songs for films and devotional songs. H ...

. All the songs were received extremely well and were instant hits. The song "Kaanadante Maayavadanu" was remixed in '' Anna Bond'' (2012) starring Puneeth who also sang the remix version.

Box office

''Chalisuva Modagalu'' garnered positive response from the people. The movie was a phenomenal success in A, B and C centres. The movie had a theatrical run of 40 weeks in Hubli and certain other parts of

Uttara Karnataka North Karnataka is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consists of 13 districts. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bh ...

while completed 175 days of run in several other centres. Chalisuva Modagalu became the first movie to complete 100 days theatrical run in two centres in Mysore city where it sold around 7.5 lakh tickets which would amount to 4 to 4.5 crores at the current rate breaking the previous record of

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

Haalu Jenu ''Haalu Jenu'' () is a 1982 Indian Kannada-language tragicomedy film directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, starring Rajkumar, Madhavi and Roopa Devi. The movie is famous for its evergreen songs, which were composed by G. K. Venkatesh. The mo ...

which had sold 6.5 lakh tickets. The movie completed 100 days of run in all the 16 first release centres and 100 days in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. The movie which ran for 85 days in Sampige theatre held the record of longest running movie in that theatre for almost 15 years until the release of

Nammoora Mandara Hoove ''Nammoora Mandara Hoove'' () is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai starring Shiva Rajkumar, Ramesh Aravind and Prema in lead roles. It's considered one of the all-time blockbuster romantic movies in Kannada Film ...

.Chalisuva Modagalu earned a profit of 23.75 lakhs within the first five weeks which was the highest for a Rajkumar movie between

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

with

Kaviratna Kalidasa ''Kaviratna Kalidasa'' () is a 1983 Kannada-language historical drama film based on the life of Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of the 4th Century A.D. The film was written and directed by Renuka Sharma and produced by V. S. Go ...

and

Samayada Gombe ''Samayada Gombe'' () is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed and co-produced by Dorai–Bhagavan. The film stars Rajkumar, Srinath, Roopa Devi and Menaka. It is based on the novel of same name written by Chitralekha. This is the ...

being the other top ventures. The movie was an ''All Time Blockbuster'' at the box office.

Awards

;

Karnataka State Film Awards Karnataka State Film Awards are the most notable and prestigious film awards given for Kannada film industry in Karnataka, India. These are considered the highest awards for Kannada language films. They are given annually by the Government ...

*Best Child actor - Master Lohith *Best Sound recording - N. Pandurangan

References

External links

* {{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao 1980s Kannada-language films Films scored by Rajan–Nagendra Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Kannada films remade in other languages Indian legal films Indian courtroom films Films with screenplays by Chi. Udayashankar