''Sipayi'' is a 1996

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 film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

, directed and produced by

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

. The film stars

Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include: * Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011) * Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971) * N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad * N. Ravichandran, ...

and

Soundarya K. S. Sowmya (18 July 1972 – 17 April 2004), better known by her stage name Soundarya, was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Telugu films and has also worked in Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films. She was regarded as one o ...

in lead roles with Telugu actor

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

appearing in an important role. Music and lyrics were composed by

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

. The movie was later dubbed in Telugu as ''Major'', and released on 5 December 1998. It was also dubbed in Tamil.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xxcQlAmpgQQ&feature=youtu.be

Plot

Shanti is a bubbly, young village girl who loves rain but is afraid of thunder and lightning. She wants to live a life of freedom. Sipayi (Shivu) loves Shanti since childhood. Shanti's parents too want their daughter to marry Sipayi. Shanti's father Baaji Bettayya is renowned in and around the village for never losing a single sheep fight. One day, the village head's son Vicky sees Shanti and lusts after her. He devices a plan and invites Bettayya for a sheep fight. Bettayya keeps winning all the matches. In order to win, Vicky's friends inject a drug to Bettayya's sheep in order to weaken its strength. This time they put Shanti at stake. Bettayya intoxicated with consecutive victories, agrees without asking anybody. He loses this match. Hand tied by his own words, Bettayya agrees to get Shanti married to Vicky. The wedding procedures begin to take place. Sipayi who gets to know this, enters the wedding venue, stops Shanti's wedding with Vicky. Instead he himself marries Shanti. Chandru, a friend of Sipayi and a soldier, helps Sipayi in his marriage. On the wedding night it is revealed that Shanti never loved Sipayi, that she always wanted to live freely without any barriers. She expresses how uncomfortable and terrified she used to be in his company. She clearly states that he married her without any consent and that she is not ready to live with him. Will their relationship sustain? How will Sipayi prove his love for Shanti forms the rest of the story.

Cast

as Sipayi (Shiva) *

as Shanti *

as Major Chandrakanth *

Vinaya Prasad Vinaya Prakash ( Bhat), also credited as Vinaya Prasad, is an Indian actress who has primarily featured in Kannada, and Malayalam films and TV series besides acting in Telugu language films. She has won the State Best Actress Award for her pe ...

* Ramakrishna * Tara *

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 ...

Ramesh Bhat Ramesh Bhat is a multiple-award–winning Indian actor. He has worked predominantly in Kannada films and television serials. Early life Ramesh Bhat was born in Kundapur. He completed his primary education at Manki and portrayed national leader ...

* Balaraj as Different Viji *

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 ...

as Baaji Bettayya *

Sanketh Kashi Kashi (1954 – 2016) known by his professional name Sanketh Kashi, was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Kashi as an actor include '' Ulta Palta'' (1997), ''Nammoora Mandara Hoove'' (1996), '' Beladingal ...

* Doddanna

Soundtrack

has composed the music and lyrics for the film.

Reception

The film music composed by

was well received, and the audio sales hit a record high.

References

1990s Kannada-language films 1996 films Films scored by Hamsalekha Films directed by V. Ravichandran {{1990s-Kannada-film-stub