''Monalisa'' is a 2004 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

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

written and directed by

Indrajit Lankesh Indrajit Lankesh is an Indian filmmaker, producer, and director of Kannada and Hindi films. He is also the publisher of the weekly Kannada tabloid '' Lankesh Patrike''. He is the son of iconic writer, journalist and film maker P. Lankesh. Lank ...

. The film stars

Dhyan Sameer Dattani, also known as Dhyan (in the Kannada film industry), is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi and Kannada films. Career Born into a Gujarati family in Bombay, Dattani has worked in Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil cinema, He is fluent ...

and

Sadha Sadaf Mohammed Sayed, also known by her stage name Sadha, is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films. She was introduced to the Telugu film industry by the director Teja along with Nithiin in the film '' Jayam ...

in lead roles and prominent actors such as Darshan and

Rekha Vedavyas Rekha, also known as Akshara, is an Indian actress, who predominantly acts in Kannada films and also appears in Telugu and Tamil films. While pursuing modelling, she made her acting debut in the 2001 Kannada film '' Chitra'' and has since starre ...

have done cameo appearances. The film's storyline is inspired by ''

Parthiban Kanavu '' Parthiban Kanavu '' ( ta, பார்த்திபன் கனவு, , lit. Parthiban's dream) is a Tamil novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Details Adapted in 1960 into a film of the same name, starring Gemini Ganesan and Vyjaya ...

'' (2003). The film was a blockbuster upon release and also received critical appreciation. It went on to win numerous awards at the Filmfare Awards South and Karnataka State Film Awards for the year 2004. It was also dubbed into Telugu with the same title with a reshot comedy track involving

Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956), known mononymously as Brahmanandam, is an Indian actor, comedian, impersonator, and voice actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is particularly known for his comic perfor ...

and Kovai Sarala.

Cast

as Dhyan *

as Monalisa/Spandana (double role) * Ramakrishna *

Bhavya Bhavya is an Indian actress. She has acted in several Kannada and a few Tamil and Telugu movies. She was a top heroine of Kannada cinema during 1985–1992. She switched over to key supporting roles post 2000. She is settled in Mumbai, India ...

as Sarasu * Sharan *

Rangayana Raghu Kotturu Chikkarangappa Raghunath (born 17 April 1965), known by his screen name Rangayana Raghu, is an Indian film and stage actor, known for his work in Kannada cinema. Portraying mostly comic and negative-shaded characters, he has appeared ...

as ACP Raveendra *

Umashree Umashree (born 10 May 1957) is an Indian actress and politician. She is known for her portrayal of film roles spoken in the Kannada language (over 400), particularly comic roles. She received National Film Award for Best Actress for her role a ...

* Shankar Bhat *

Shakeela C. Shakeela, known mononymously as Shakeela, is an Indian actress and politician who has predominantly acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. She is a member of Indian National Congress. Shakeela debuted in the film ''Playgirls ...

* Vijay

Guest appearances

* Darshan *

* Vanitha Vasu * Durga Shetty *

Ruchita Prasad Ruchita Prasad is an Indian actress who has appeared in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films in the 1990s and early 2000s. Career Ruchita began her career as a model, first competing in the Princess of Indira Nagar Club contest ...

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Valisha-Sandeep duo. The song "Chori Chori" is inspired from Habibi Dah (Nari Narain) which was sung by Hisham Abbas and

Bombay Jayashri "Bombay" Jayashri Ramnath is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, singer, and musician. She has sung in multiple languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi movies. Born into a family of musicians, Jayashri represents the fourth ge ...

Awards

* Karnataka State Film Award for Best Film *

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director Karnataka State Film Award for Best Director is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honors Kannada language films. This award is presented to the Director of First ...

References

External source

Movie review

Movie review

Karnataka State Film Awards 2004-05
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monalisa 2004 films 2000s Kannada-language films Indian romance films Films directed by Indrajit Lankesh 2000s romance films