''Veera Kesari'' is a 1963 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

swashbuckler film Swashbuckler films are a subgenre of the action film genre, often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters, known as swashbucklers. Real historical events often feature prominently in the plot, morality is often clear-c ...

directed by B. Vittalacharya and produced by Sundarlal Nahatha and Doondi. The film stars Rajkumar, T. N. Balakrishna,

Udaykumar Bommasandra Srinivasaiah Suryanarayana Murthy (16 March 1933 – 26 December 1985), known by his screen name Udaykumar, was an Indian actor and producer in Kannada cinema. He, along with Kalyan Kumar and Rajkumar, were called the ''Kumarathr ...

and R. Nagendra Rao. The film has musical score by Ghantasala.

S. Siddalingaiah Siddalingaiah (15 December 1936 – 12 March 2015) was an Indian film Film director, director, Screenwriter, scriptwriter and Film producer, producer who worked mainly in the Cinema of Karnataka, Kannada films. He was well known for his distinct ...

was the assistant director of this movie. B. Vittalacharya shot the movie simultaneously in Telugu as '' Bandipotu'', with

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

. Critics have called it a "clever adaptation of the adventures of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

" with the core theme of the romantic portion inspired by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

s ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

''. The film had its climax scene in

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

. The film was a major box office success. Midway through the movie, Vittalacharya, who suffered from typhoid, asked his friend, M. R. Vittal to complete the shoot. Vittal completed a major portion of the shoot including the song ''Mellusire Savigaana'', but refused to be credited as the director.

Story

SaptaSena Maharaja R. Nagendra Rao has lost his legs and administration is taken over by ShooraSimha (

). ShooraSimha rules with an iron hand, torturing the masses and quelling rebellions. He has an affair with the palace-courtesan, but aims to marry the princess MandaaraMaala ( Leelavathi). Narasimha ( Rajkumar), whose uncle (

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 ...

) has gone into hiding, is waging a rebellion against ShooraSimha.

, popularly known as Musuku-veera is the hero with a face mask.

's elder brother, H. Ramachandra Shastry though, doesn't agree to the armed fight. things come to a pass, when Narasimha wards off

's attempt to kidnap Mandaaramaale. Giving into his brother's wish,

agrees to formally complain to SaptaSena Maharaja. However, ShooraSimha kills both the brothers before they get a hearing in front of SaptaSena Maharaja. Before dying, H. Ramachandra Shastry asks Narasimha to give up the ahimsa-way he had followed all his life and take up cudgels against ShooraSimha's misdeeds. Narasimha takes over the role of his Uncle's Musuku-veera role, kidnaps MandaaraMaale, makes her aware of the harsh conditions masses brace through. He releases her, once she appreciates the common man's trouble. Romance blooms between MandaaraMaale and Narasimha, much to the chagrin of ShooraSimha. SaptaSena Maharaja gets wind of ShooraSimha's misdeeds and confronts him. ShooraSimha loses his mind and imprisons SaptaSena Maharaja. The Palace-courtesan makes up a plot of Damsel in Distress, finds the hide-away of Musuku-veera, thus getting ShooraSimha to nab him by sleight. Condemned to prison, Narasimha is to be executed at the same moment as ShooraSimha's ascension to the throne. In a final showdown, Narasimha escapes from prison, beats ShooraSimha at his own game, bringing peace to the kingdom. SaptaSena Maharaja offers the kingdom and his daughter's hand to NaraSimha. NaraSimha vows to rule the kingdom, purely to offer succour to the masses.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ghantasala.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0324419 1963 films 1960s Kannada-language films Films scored by Ghantasala (musician) 1960s multilingual films Indian multilingual films Indian historical fantasy films Indian films based on plays Indian swashbuckler films Films directed by B. Vittalacharya Films partially in color