''Samyuktha'' is a 1988 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

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by K. N. Chandrashekar Sharma. The story is based on a novel of same name by Kakolu Saroja Rao. The film stars

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

, Balaraj,

Chi Guru Dutt Chitnahalli Guru Dutt is an Indian actor and director, primarily concentrating on Kannada and Tamil films. He is the son of Chi. Udaya Shankar. Career He debuted along with Shivrajkumar in the Kannada film '' Anand'' (1986). He was launched i ...

and debutant actress Veena. The film was widely appreciated for its songs and story upon release. The songs composed by

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

were huge hits. Singeetam also co-wrote the screenplay for this movie. The background score was composed by

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 a ...

. In an episode in '' Weekend with Ramesh'', Shiva Rajkumar had revealed that initially the movie was supposed to have only 2 protagonists –

and Balaraj as in the original novel. However, he was later on board to give credibility to the project.

Plot

Three youngsters Shivaraj aka Shivu, Balaraj aka Balu and Gururaj aka Guru arrive in

Saligrama A shaligrama shila ( deva, शालिग्राम शिला, Śāligrāma-śilā), also rendered as shaligram, is a particular variety of stone collected from riverbed or banks of the Kali Gandaki, a tributary of the Gandaki River in N ...

to work in a factory owned by Mohan Rao, with the influence of

Home Minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

. They all stay at Factory Manager Gopal Rao's house after Gopal Rao's insistence. Shivu falls for Devi, Gopal Rao's sister. They travel across the village where they learn about a desolated house, which is haunted by the ghost of Mohan Rao's deceased wife Samyuktha. They decide to investigate, but Devi disagrees with them and reveals that her brother-in-law Sadanand, who is a

police inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

went towards the house to investigate, but went missing. Mohan Rao arrives from Delhi and grants them jobs where he also makes them to stay at Samyuktha's house to scare them away from the village as Mohan Rao feels that they are irresponsible persons. The trio shift to the bungalow and experience paranormal activities: When Balu was returning from a theatre with his girlfriend Pramila, He hears sounds of a woman singing, deducing it is a ''

Mohini Mohini (Sanskrit: मोहिनी, ') is the Hindu goddess of enchantment. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a '' femme fatale'', an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them ...

'' escapes from the forest to the bungalow. They also finds that someone has been following them. One night, they hear the same song where they find a woman and follows her, who tries to commit suicide, but Shivu saves her only to find that she is Devi's sister Radha, who reveals that she followed Sadanand to the bungalow, only to find him disappeared which results in Radha sinking into depression. The trio checks Samyuktha's room for clues, but to no avail. Balu wakes up to drink water, only to find a horrific ghost in front to their room. The ghost escapes making the trio deduce that someone is trying to scare them by using ''Ghost'' tactics. After completing their work at night, The trio are attacked by goons and manages to defeat them, but Balu gets knocked by the process. Devi arrives at the bungalow to meet the trio, only to see the ghost and escapes from there until Shivu arrives and chases the ghost. He throws a knife at the ghost where Shivu finds blood stains confirming their suspicion. At Devi's friend Shashirekha's birthday, Guru goes missing and deduce that he has been kidnapped. At morning, Shivu and Balu finds Guru's camera where they find the photo of the priest, who prays at a ''Gudi'' near the bungalow is involved in the paranormal activities. They follow him at night, but the priest sees them and a chase ensues where the priest disappears. The next morning, Shivu and Balu find the priest dead and his body hanging from the tree. They deduce that the priest disappeared from the temple and at night they check the temple and finds some dotted snake puzzle and solve it which leads to a tunnel, only to find that the base is actually an illegal arms den. Shivu and Balu attack the culprits and frees Guru and Sadanand (who is alive) and also confront the ghost, who reveals that Gopal Rao is behind Samyuktha's death and arms smuggling. Samyuktha had learnt about Gopal Rao's smuggling business which leads to Gopal Rao chocking Samyuktha to death and made it look like a suicide, He only spared Sadanand as he is Radha's husband. Shivu, Balu and Guru confronts Gopal Rao, who reveal themselves as

undercover officers A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are perform ...

, who are assigned by Mohan Rao to solve the case. A chase and shootout ensues at a factory where Shivu, Balu and Guru manages to catch Gopal Rao and arrest him. After this, Shivu-Devi, Balu-Pramila, Guru-Shashirekha embarks on a road trip at the hillside.

Cast

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

as Shivaraj aka Shivu * Veena as Devi *

as Gururaj aka Guru *

Balaraj Balaraj is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. He has appeared in '' Anand'' (1986), '' Ratha Sapthami'' (1986), ''Shiva Mecchida Kannappa'' (1988) and ''Samyuktha'' (1988). Television # ''Silli Lalli'' Selected filmography Balaraj h ...

as Balaraj aka Balu *

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 Veerabhadraiah *

Sundar Krishna Urs Sundar Krishna Urs (1941–1993) was an Indian film producer and actor, in the Kannada film industry, as well as in many South Indian language films. He has also worked as a dubbing artist providing voices to many actors. Some of the notable f ...

as Mohan Rao *

Avinash Avinash Yelandur (born 22 December 1959) is an Indian actor who stars predominantly in South Indian language films, notably in the Kannada and Tamil film industries. He has been in the industry for two decades and has acted in over 200 films. Kn ...

as Gopal Rao *

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 Purushotthama Rao *

Honnavalli Krishna Honnavalli Krishna is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Honnavalli Krishna as an actor include '' Ratha Sapthami'' (1986), ''Aasegobba Meesegobba'' (1990), ''Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu'' (1974), ''Janumada Jo ...

as Thamboori *

Sudha Narasimharaju Sudha Narasimharaju is an Indian actress in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Sudha Narasimharaju as an actress include '' Rathasapthami'' (1986), '' Aruna Raaga'' (1986), and '' Shubha Milana'' (1987). Career Sudha Nar ...

as Prameela * Prashanthi Nayak as Shashi * Roopadevi as Samyuktha (Voice dubbed by

B. Jayashree B. Jayashree (born 9 June 1950) is a veteran Indian theatre actress, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television and worked as dubbing artist in films. She is the creative director of Spandana Theatre, an amateur theatre co ...

) *

Devaraj Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He ha ...

in a guest appearance as Devil *

Sadashiva Brahmavar Sadashiva Brahmavar (1928–2018), known as Brahmavar, was an Indian actor who appeared in Kannada films. He is best known for his supporting roles in such movies including Guri (1986), Samyuktha (1988) and Sri Manjunatha (2001). Personal lif ...

as Priest

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film was composed by

Legacy

Abhiram titled his 2017 film ''Samyuktha 2'', which has no similarity with this film.?

References

1988 films 1980s Kannada-language films Indian thriller films Films scored by Shankar–Ganesh Films based on Indian novels Films with screenplays by Chi. Udayashankar 1988 thriller films Films scored by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao {{1980s-Kannada-film-stub