''Madhu Malathi'' is a 1966 Indian

Kannada 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 s ...

-language romantic drama film, directed by S. K. A. Chari and produced by M. Sampath. The film stars Rajkumar,

Udaykumar Bommasandra Srinivasaiah Suryanarayana Murthy (16 March 1933 – 26 December 1985), known by his screen name Udaykumar, was an Indian actor and producer in Kannada cinema. He, along with Kalyan Kumar and Rajkumar, were called the ''Kumarathr ...

, Arun Kumar and

Bharathi Vishnuvardhan Bharathi Vishnuvardhan (born 15 August 1950), also known mononymously as Bharathi, is an Indian actress known primarily for her work in Kannada cinema and television serials. She began her career in 1966, as a lead actress, with the Kannada mov ...

. The film has musical score by G. K. Venkatesh. The title card credited the story to the director with a note that it was based on a book by Bhavabhuti. The story traces its origin to the ancient Indian drama ''Mālatīmādhava'' by Bhavabhuti () and later went on to be one of the popular Vikram - Vetal stories from '' Vetala Panchavimshati'', a Sanskrit work whose earliest recensions are found in '' Kathasaritsagara'' written by Somadeva (). The movie was dubbed in Tamil as ''Vedhalan Sonna Kathai''. The movie has the characteristics of

swashbuckler film Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...

s with the three male lead roles playing swashbucklers and the sole female lead playing a

damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...

. This was the first movie where Bharathi was paired against Rajkumar.

Cast

* Rajkumar as Trivikramasena *

* Arun Kumar *

as Madhu Malathi *

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 Keshava Chandragupta *

M. P. Shankar M. P. Shankar (20 August 1935 – 17 July 2008) was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. He acted in films like Satya Harishchandra (1965 Kannada film), Satya Harishchandra as 'Veera Baahu', Naagarahaavu as 'Pailwan Basanna', ''Bhootayyana Maga Ay ...

*Kuppuraj *Ranga *

M. Jayashree M. Jayashree (1921 – 2006), was an Indian actress who worked mainly in Kannada films. She is known for her supporting roles in such movies including Rayara Sose (1957), Naagarahaavu (1972), Eradu Kanasu and Sri Srinivasa Kalyana. She was f ...

*B. R. Hema *

R. Nagendra Rao Rattihalli Nagendra Rao (23 June 1896 – 9 February 1977) was an Indian theatre actor, film actor and director in South Indian cinema. Following his career in theatre, Rao turned to film a where he became an actor, director, producer, screenwr ...

in a guest appearance *Girimaji *Anantharam Maccheri *Keshavamurthy *Lakshmayya *Narayan *Shyamsundar *Honnappa *Stunt Rathnam

Production and release

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

was the initial choice for the lead actress role but she couldn't take up the movie when there was production delay and her callsheet dates clashed with her Tamil movie assignments. This movie was the inaugural movie for Sangam Theatre, Majestic where it saw a six-week run. In its second run, it was released in Triveni theatre in 1968.https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=__LZEkhPG7m90Juc&v=CzPNUFjY7cM&feature=youtu.be

References

External links

* * 1966 films 1960s Kannada-language films Films scored by G. K. Venkatesh Films based on Indian folklore Indian films based on plays Indian romantic drama films {{1960s-Kannada-film-stub