''Apthamitra'' () is a 2004 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 horror film directed by

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

, and stars Vishnuvardhan,

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 ...

and

Ramesh Arvind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

in the lead roles with Prema,

Dwarakish Bungle Shama Rao Dwarakanath (born 19 August 1942), better known as Dwarakish ( ), is an Indian actor, director and producer in the Kannada film industry. He was given the name Dwarakish by Kannada film maker C. V. Shivashankar. Early life D ...

and Avinash in supporting roles. This was Soundarya's last film in her career which ended with two posthumous releases - the other being the Telugu movie '' Shiva Shankar'' which released few days before ''Apthamitra''. The movie is a loosely based on the 1993

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

classic film ''

Manichithrathazhu ''Manichitrathazhu'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language epic psychological horror film directed by Fazil, written by Madhu Muttam, and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Shobana with Nedumudi Venu ...

'' with a few scenes borrowed from the 1997 Malayalam film '' Aaraam Thampuran''. The film was released on 27 August 2004 to highly positive reviews. It ran for one year in the main theaters across

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 was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Apthamitra was later followed by its sequel, '' Aptharakshaka'' (2010). P. Vasu also remade the film in Tamil in 2005 as '' Chandramukhi'' with Rajinikanth and

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films.

in the leads. Late actress

is remembered for her performance in this film.

Plot

Ramesh and Ganga are a married couple who recently move into

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

to buy an ancient palace, against the wishes of his uncles and family elders. His uncle agrees to reside with them with his two daughters Vani and Hema, on one condition that the room on the first floor which is locked and sealed should not be visited by anyone in the family. They have their caretaker Rangajja, who lives in the outhouse with his granddaughter Sowmya. During their stay in the house, they learn that this palace once belonged to Raja Vijaya Rajendra Bahaddur. He had a court dancer named ''Nagavalli'' from

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, whom he was in love with. But Nagavalli already loved a fellow dancer named ''Ramanatha'', who used to reside in a house just behind the palace. When the Raja discovered their affair on a Durgashtami day, he beheaded Dancer Ramanatha and burned Nagavalli alive. So Nagavalli vowed to burn the Raja alive on the very same Durgashtami day. Strange things start to happen in the palace and everyone suspects Sowmya, who is always found at the place of the incident. So, Ramesh calls in his psychiatrist friend Vijay to help him clear the misconceptions regarding the palace and its history. Ramesh's uncle is unhappy with the way Vijay functions and is suspicious of him. Vani, Ramesh's cousin is in love with an orphan-dance teacher, Mahadev who incidentally resides in the same house behind the palace. Vijay learns of this and tells Ramesh's uncle about this and the alliance is approved by all in the family and their marriage is fixed. When the whole family is out of town to visit Mahadev, to decide on his wedding with Vani, Ganga with help from Sowmya opens the room on the first floor with the key given by Sowmya. While she entered the room, Sowmya comes running to tell her not to open the door as the key maker who made the key had died. But Ganga told her not to believe in these superstitions. During this time there are attempts to kill Ramesh by someone unknown, which every time is foiled by Vijay. Even Vani is attacked once by someone unknown. So Ramesh's uncle calls upon an Acharya Ramachandra Shastri to perform some peace ritual upon the palace. Though Ramesh is not interested in all these proceedings he agrees with his advice of Vijay. On the eve of Mahadev and Vani's engagement ceremony, Ganga accuses Mahadev of trying to molest her - which is refused by both Mahadev and Vijay. Upon hearing this Ramesh gets angry at Vijay and shouts at him to get out of his house. Acharya stops the family from doing so and asks Vijay to tell them the mystery behind the strange incidents. Vijay reveals to everyone that Ganga who turned into Nagavalli is behind all the strange incidents and Ganga who turned into Nagavalli tried to kill Ramesh and Vani because Nagavalli thinks that Mahadevan is her lover Ramanathan. Ganga who visited the first-floor room was enamored by Nagavalli and her diary. Since Ganga suffered from Split personality disorder, the mystery behind Nagavalli's story compelled her to assume herself as Nagavalli, compelling the spirit of Nagavalli to enter her body. She (Nagavalli inside Ganga) now intends to kill Vijay as he had posed in front of her as Raja Vijaya Rajendra Bahaddur, on the coming Durgashtami day as vowed by Nagavalli while dying. Vijay explains to everyone that since Nagavalli inside Ganga thinks that Mahadev is the dancer Ramnath. Vijay on Durgashtami Day, makes Nagavalli (Ganga) believe that he himself is the king, and employs a

trap door A trapdoor is a sliding or hinged door in a floor or ceiling. It is traditionally small in size. It was invented to facilitate the hoisting of grain up through mills, however, its list of uses has grown over time. The trapdoor has played a pivot ...

to make Nagavalli burn a dummy with his image on it. Nagavalli satisfies herself and leaves Ganga's body. Vijay is also safe. Vijay helps Ganga psychologically later to regain herself. Ramesh thanks Vijay for his help.

Cast

* Vishnuvardhan as Dr. Vijay / Vijaya Rajendra Bahaddur *

as Ganga / Nagavalli *

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

as Ramesh * Prema as Sowmya *

as Mukunda * Avinash as Acharya Ramachandra Shastri *

Pramila Joshai Pramila Joshai is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry. Some of the films of Pramila Joshai as an actor include '' Saheba'' (2017), '' Thayi'' (2008), ''Apthamitra'' (2004). She was credited as Parimalam in her debut Tamil film '' Va ...

as Rukku *

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 Rangajja * Satyajit as Shivananda * Shridhar Jain as Dancer Ramnath and Prof. Mahadev * Bhoomika Shetty as Hema * Sneha * Jaya Muruli * Ramanand

Soundtrack

Gurukiran Gurukiran or Gurukiran Shetty is an Indian music director of the Kannada film industry in India. He started his career as a music director of the Kannada movie '' A'', directed and acted by Upendra. His music for his next movie '' Upendra'' fu ...

scored the film's background music and composed for its soundtrack, with lyrics for the tracks written by V. Manohar,

Kaviraj Kaviraj (or Rajkavi, Kaviraja) is a title of honor, which was given to poets and litterateurs attached to royal courts in medieval India. Eminent Charans who were inducted into the royal courts due to their literary merit as royal poets and his ...

, V. Nagendra Prasad and Goturi. The soundtrack album, which received positive reviews from critics, consists of six tracks. The track ''Kaalavannu Tadeyoru'' was taken from the 1977 film, '' Kittu Puttu'' which had

and Vishnuvardhan playing the lead roles as well, alongside

Manjula Manjula (Sanskrit: मंजुला) is a Hindu and Sanskrit female given name, which means, "melodious". Notable people named Manjula * Manjula (Kannada actress) (1954–1986), Indian actress * Manjula Chellur (born 1955), Indian doctor and ...

, the lyrics for which was written by Chi. Udayashankar.

Awards

;52nd Filmfare Awards South The film, won five Filmfare Awards that includes:News from Viggy.co

* Filmfare Award for Best Film – Kannada, Best Film – Kannada:

* Best Director – Kannada:

* Best Actor – Kannada: Vishnuvardhan * Best Actress – Kannada:

* Best Music Director – Kannada:

References

External links

*
Film review
{{Films inspired by Manichitrathazhu 2004 films Indian horror films Films scored by Gurukiran 2000s Kannada-language films Kannada films remade in other languages 2004 horror films Indian horror film remakes Kannada remakes of Malayalam films Films directed by P. Vasu