''Sharapanjara'' ( en, Cage of Arrows) is a 1971 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 ...

, based on a novel by Triveni of the same name, and starring Kalpana and

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 ''Gejje ...

in lead roles. This film is considered one of the best

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 ...

movies ever made. Triveni's novel was richly visual and Puttanna not only stayed faithful to the novel on screen but also retained most of the novel's dialogues and credited Triveni for them. The film won the award for Best Feature Film in Kannada at the 20th National Film Awards in 1972. It also won three awards at the 1970-71 Karnataka State Film Awards including the award for First Best Film. The film was later remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as '' Krishnaveni'' (1974) starring

Vanisri Vanisri (born Rathna Kumari) is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada films. In a film career spanning 40 years, she has received three Filmfare Awards South, the Nandi Awards and the Tamil Nadu St ...

Plot

The film revolves around the societal perception of the mentally ill. Kaveri is an educated, sophisticated, and beautiful woman who hails from a loving middle class family. A chance meeting at a friend's wedding and the hero Satish (Gangadhar) falls in love with Kaveri. They get married with the blessings of their parents. They build their dream house, have a son, buy a car - they not only form a picture-perfect couple but are also generally prosperous. When Kaveri conceives for the second time, the doctor expresses concern over her health. Once the baby is born, Kaveri is tormented by memories of forcefully losing her virginity during her college days and develops symptoms o
post-partum psychosis
She is admitted to an in-house mental healthcare facility for treatment. After recovery, when Kaveri returns home, Satish treats her with callousness. Kaveri faces scorn of some sort or the other from her family, neighbours and society in general, as well, owing to the stigma around mental illness. Eventually when Kaveri discovers that her husband is having an extra-marital relationship with a female colleague, he
post-partum psychosis
symptoms relapse and he has to be readmiited to the mental healthcare facility. The movie dwells on two major social issues. One, the social acceptability of mental illness. The general response Kaveri receives from her cook and servants, her family members and neighbours, depicts the lack of sensitivity that is so much needed for people like Kaveri, and the repercussions. Two, the male ego and entitlement - her husband spurns her because of her past incident and uses it as an alibi to be unfaithful to her. In addition, even her guilt and trauma stem from her friend from college forcing himself on her.

Cast

* Kalpana as Kaveri *

as Satish, Kaveri's husband *

Srinath Narayana Swamy (born 28 December 1944), known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is ...

as Sudheer, Satish's friend (cameo) * Leelavathi as Vijaya, Sathish's sister *

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 Narayanappa, Kaveri's father *

Advani Lakshmi Devi Advani Lakshmi Devi is a retired Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema. She has played a variety of roles such as heroine, vamp, mother, grandmother in hundreds of Kannada movies over the last 50 years. Her role in films ''Gandha ...

as Vishali, Kaveri's mother *

Chindodi Leela Chindodi Leela (1943 – 21 January 2010) was an Indian stage and film actress, politician, and writer from Karnataka. Family Leela was born in 1943 at Davangere, Karnataka into a family of professional theater artists. Her father Chindodi Vee ...

as Vimala *

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 Maithili *

Shivaram S. Shivaram (28 January 1938 – 4 December 2021), popularly known simply as Shivaram or Shivaramanna, was an Indian actor, producer and director whose Kannada cinema career has spanned six decades. He has played roles including lead hero p ...

as Bhatta * Narasimharaju as Maithili's husband *

Loknath 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 a psychologist * R. T. Rama * Kala * Jayamma * G. V. Malathamma * G. V. Swarnamma * Jr. Jayanthi * Bangalore Nagesh * Ganapathi Bhat * Sharapanjara Iyengar as Iyengar, Satish's colleague * G. M. Nanjappa *

K. M. Cariappa ' Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (28 January 1899 – 15 May 1993) was the first Indian Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the Western Front during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He was appoin ...

as guest in wedding (uncredited) *

as guest in wedding (uncredited)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack composed by

Vijaya Bhaskar Vijaya Bhaskar ( kan, ವಿಜಯಭಾಸ್ಕರ್; 1924–2002) was an Indian music director and composer who composed music for several mainstream and experimental feature films in the Kannada film industry. Scoring music for over 600 fe ...

was well received by the audience.

Reception

The film was a big hit and ran for one year in Karnataka in about three theatres. Kaveri portrayed by Kalpana is one of the most widely acclaimed characters in Kannada cinema. Kalpana's performance as a woman dealing with trauma was widely acclaimed by critics. The movie was the biggest milestone of Kalpana's illustrious career.

Awards

; 20th National Film Awards * Best Feature Film in Kannada ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

*The film won

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Kannada The Kannada Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the prod ...

(1971) ;1970–71

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 ...

* First Best Film – C. S. Raja *

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress awar ...

– Kalpana *

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

–

;15th

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

* Screened in Kannada cinema Retrospect section.

References

External links

* {{National Film Award Best Feature Film Kannada 1971 films 1970s Kannada-language films Films based on Indian novels Kannada films remade in other languages Films directed by Puttanna Kanagal Films scored by Vijaya Bhaskar Kannada literature Best Kannada Feature Film National Film Award winners