''Simhadriya Simha'' () is a 2002 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

action drama 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-ge ...

film directed by

S. Narayan S. Narayan (born 5 June 1962) is an Indian filmmaker, director, actor and lyricist of Kannada films. After Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Narayan is the second director to direct Dr. Rajkumar and all his three sons. He has given many hits with Vishnu ...

. The film stars Vishnuvardhan,

Meena Meena () is a sub-group of Bhils. They speak Meena language. They started adopting the Brahmin worship system. Its name is also transliterated as ''Meenanda'' or ''Mina''. Historians claim that they belong to the Matsya tribe. They got the st ...

and Bhanupriya. The music of the film was composed by

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

. The film was a remake of the 1994

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

film ''

Nattamai ''Nattamai'' () is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It starred Sarathkumar, Meena and Khushbu. The film was released on 2 November 1994, during Diwali, and completed a 175-day run at the box office. It is co ...

''. Vishnuvardhan played triple role in this movie.

Cast

* Vishnuvardhan as Gowda, Chikka and Narasimha Gowda *

as Deepa * Bhanupriya as Lakshmi *

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 ...

M. S. Umesh Mysore Srikantayya Umesh, popularly known as M. S. Umesh or simply Umesh, is an Indian actor whose Kannada cinema career has spanned six decades. After having featured in several stage shows as an actor in his childhood, he was hired for the lea ...

Shobhraj ''Shobhraj'' is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by J. Sasikumar and written by Vijayan Karote, starring Mohanlal and Madhavi. The film is a remake of the 1978 Hindi film '' Don'' written by Salim–Javed. Mohan ...

Abhijeeth Abhijith (born 30 July 1963) is an Indian actor, singer, producer and director working in Kannada films. Starting his career as an actor in the late 1980s, he went on to act in many films through the 1990s and 2000s. He mainly played lead rol ...

Umashri 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 ...

Mukhyamantri Chandru Honnasandra Narasimhaiah Chandrashekar (born 28 August 1953), known popularly as Mukhyamantri Chandru, is an Indian actor and politician. As an actor, he is known for his work in Kannada theatre and cinema. The sobriquet ''Mukhyamantri'' (Chief ...

Sundar Raj Sundar Raj is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry (Sandalwood). Some of the notable films of Sundar Raj as an actor include ''Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane'', ''Ondanondu Kaladalli'', ''Chandanada Gombe'', ''Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu'' (2001), ...

* Keertiraj *

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 ...

Rekha Das Rekha Das is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Rekha Das as an actress include '' Shwethaagni'' (1991), '' Shanthi Kranthi'' (1991), and '' Hoovu Hannu'' (1993). Personal life She was married to Kann ...

* Vijay Kumar as Bhanupriya's Brother

Story

The story revolves around Narasimhe Gowda (Vishnuvardhan), who is the chieftain for a group of 48 villages. He is the man with the strength of an elephant and who rules the Simhadri village as a lion rules his kingdom. The sincerity and the wisdom in the judgement makes the people go to Narasimha for justice and not the police. one of the relative of Narasimha Gowda Shobraj, rapes a girl and is banished from the village for 18 years. He also has to marry the girl according to the judgement by the Gowda. Such a harsh judgement makes Shobraj's father kill Narasimhe Gowda. The throne is ascended by the elder son of Narasimha Gowda, who is also portrayed by Vishnuvardhan as a just and powerful ruler. Things take a turn after 18 years when the Simhadriya Simha family has to undergo a similar situation. Due to a twist of fate, Gowda has to decide his brother Chikka's (again played by Vishnuvardhan) fate. The judgement - Chikka is ordered to leave the village for 10 years. Truth is unveiled when Shobraj's mother reveals the involvement of her son in falsely implicating Chikka. The stage is then set for a perfect climax.

Reception

All the reviews for the movie were positive. Vishnuvardhan's acting was the highlight of the film and had got great reviews everywhere. The film became a huge hit in all the parts of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and completed 25 successful weeks in the theaters. It created craze among the audience and songs like Malnad Adike, Priya Priya and Simhaadriya Simha, all sung by

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

were huge hits and were regularly played at functions, shows etc.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by

with lyrics penned by the director

himself. The song "Kotha Paakum" from the original Tamil film ''Nattamai'' was retained here as "Malnad Adike". Deva later reused "Kalladare Naanu" as "Poove Mudhal" in Tamil film ''Kadhal Kirukkan''.

References

External links

* {{S. Narayan 2002 films 2000s Kannada-language films Kannada remakes of Tamil films Films scored by Deva (composer) Films directed by S. Narayan