''Priyamanasam'' is a 2015 Indian

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

-language

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Vinod Mankara. It is based on the life of writer

Unnayi Variyar Unnayi Warrier was a poet, writer, scholar, and dramatist who lived in Kerala, India during the 17th/18th century. He is best known for his chef-d'oeuvre ''Nalacharitham'' aattakatha and is known to have made significant contributions to the ar ...

and his 17th-century

kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

play ( attakatha) ''

Nalacharitham Nalacharitham is a Kathakali play ( Aattakatha) written by Unnayi Warrier. Based on the Mahabharatha, it tells the story of King Nalan and his consort Damayanthi. The play consists of four parts – called First, Second, Third and Fourth Day ...

''. The play is a recension of

Nala Nala (Sanskrit: नल) is a character in the ''Vana Parva'' book of the ''Mahabharata''. He was the king of Nishadha Kingdom and the son of Veerasena. Nala was known for his skill with horses and for his culinary expertise. He married prince ...

and

Damayanti ''Damayanti'' (Sanskrit: दमयंती) is a character in a love story found in the Vana Parva book of the Mahabharata. She was the daughter of Bhima (not the Pandava one) and a princess of the Vidarbha Kingdom, who married King Nala of th ...

, an episode in the Indian epic ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. Made in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, it was the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

Sanskrit film and the first in 22 years. It received the Best Sanskrit Feature Film Award at the

63rd National Film Awards The 63rd National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2015 in Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 28 March 2016 ...

Cast

Rajesh Hebbar K. Rajesh Hebbar (born 18 November 1967) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also the lead vocalist of a rock band named Primitive Knights. Biography Hebbar was born in an Udupi Brahmi ...

Prateeksha Kashi ] ] Prateeksha Kashi is an Indian Kuchipudi dancer, a classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh, India. She is from the family of Dr. Gubbi Veeranna and was initiated to dance at the age of five. Ever since she has been trained in Kuchipudi, un ...

Plot

Set in 17th century Kerala, Priyamanasam is about the final years in the life of poet

as he struggles to complete his magnum opus ''

'' Aattakatha (performance), Aattakatha.

References

External links

Official website
*{{IMDb title Sanskrit-language films 2015 films Films set in the 17th century Indian biographical films 2010s biographical films Indian films based on plays Films based on the Mahabharata