Gejje Pooje is a 1969 Indian

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

film directed by

Puttanna Kanagal Shubraveshti Ramaswamiah Seetharama Sharma (1 December 1933 – 5 June 1985), known popularly as S. R. Puttanna Kanagal, was an Indian filmmaker known for his work in Kannada cinema. He is often considered one of Kannada cinema's most influent ...

and produced by Rashi Brothers. The film stars Kalpana,

Gangadhar Gangadhar (1936–2003) was an Indian actor known for his work in Kannada cinema. A character actor who transitioned from stage to films in the mid-1960s, he had a brief period of success when his performances in social-dramas such as '' Gej ...

and Leelavathi in the lead roles. ''Gejje'' means anklet and ''pooje'' means worship, but in the context of this film, it means a mock marriage. The film is based on the novel ''Gejje Pooje'', by M. K. Indira. The film was remade in Tamil as ''Thaaliya Salangaiya'', in Telugu as ''

Kalyana Mandapam ''Kalyana Mandapam'' () is a 1971 Indian Telugu-language film produced and directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao. A remake of Puttanna Kanagal ''Gejje Pooje'' (1969), the film stars Sobhan Babu and Kanchana; Jaggayya, Anjali Devi, and Gummadi pla ...

'' and in Hindi as '' Ahista Ahista''.

Plot

This socially relevant film explores the problem of prostitutes. It was based on the novel written by M. K. Indira. The heroine Chandramukhi (played by Kalpana) is the daughter of a devadasi who falls in love with a young man who is her neighbour, as they grew up together. The young girl understands the value of education and with the support of her mother intends to reject the life of prostitution. Circumstances and the young man's suspicion makes him abandon the heroine. The girl he then goes on to marry is actually her half-sister, the daughter of the heroine's father from his marriage with another woman. He had abandoned both Chandra and her mother. Chandra agrees to perform 'gejje pooje' (literally getting married to ankle bracelets) as part of initiation into a life of prostitution, but in the end, she commits suicide by crushing & swallowing the diamond (from the ring that was gifted to her by her biological father in his memory).

Cast

* Kalpana as Chandramukhi *

as Somu * Leelavathi as Aparna, Chandramukhi's mother * Aarathi as Lalita *

Lokanath C. H. Loknath (14 August 1927 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor with more than 1000 Kannada plays and 650 films to his credit. Loknath is affectionately known as "Uncle Loknath" or "Uppinakayi" in the industry. His last performance wa ...

as Puttanna Shettru *

Pandari Bai Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in South Indian cinema, mostly in Kannada cinema during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroi ...

as Tangamma, Somu's mother *

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 ...

as Somu's father * Annapoornamma as Chandra's grandmother * Swarnamma *

M. N. Lakshmi Devi M. N. Lakshmi Devi is a veteran film artist in Kannada films. She is from Chintamani and has had a career of 7 decades. She has acted in more than 700 films. Devi is known for the movies " Bhakta Kanakadasa"(1960), "Bangaarada Manushya"(1972), ...

as Savitri *

Balakrishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

as Savitri's husband *

B. V. Radha Bengaluru Vijaya Radha (15 August 1948 – 10 September 2017), commonly known as B. V. Radha, was an Indian actress and film producer. She began her career in the 1964 Kannada film '' Navakoti Narayana''. She went on to play mostly supporti ...

Vajramuni Sadananda Sagar (11 May 1944 – 5 January 2006), better known by his stage name Vajramuni, was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. He portrayed negative characters during most of his career and was considered one of Kannada cinema's ...

Awards

; 17th National Film Awards * Best Kannada Film * Best Screenplay —

;1969–70 Karnataka State Film Awards * First Best Film * Best Supporting Actress – Leelavathi * Best Screenplay —

* Best Dialogue — Navarathna Ram Rao * Best Cinematographer — S. V. Srikanth

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Vijayabaskhar.

References

External links

* 1969 films 1960s Kannada-language films Films based on Indian novels Films directed by Puttanna Kanagal Kannada films remade in other languages Films scored by Vijaya Bhaskar Kannada literature Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay National Film Award Best Kannada Feature Film National Film Award winners {{1960s-Kannada-film-stub