Bidugade

{{Infobox film

| name = Bidugade

| image =

| caption =

| director = Y. R. Swamy

| producer = T. P. Venugopal

| writer = Ramesh Movies

| screenplay = Ramesh Movies

| story =

| based_on =

| narrator =

| starring = Rajkumar
Bharathi
Rajesh
K. S. Ashwath

| music = M. Ranga Rao

| cinematography = Annayya

| editing = Babu
N. C. Rajan

| studio = Ramesh Movies

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|1973}}

| runtime = 175 minutes

| country = India

| language = Kannada

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Bidugade ({{audio|Kn-ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ.ogg|pronunciation}}) is a 1973 Indian Kannada language drama film directed by Y. R. Swamy and produced by T. P. Venugopal. It starred Rajkumar, Rajesh and Bharathi along with a host of supporting actors. Minugutare Kalpana made a special appearance in the film.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1365440/fullcredits|title=Bidugade (1973) - IMDb|publisher=IMDb}} M. Ranga Rao scored the music and the story was written and produced by Ramesh Movies. Chi. Udaya Shankar wrote the lyrics and dialogues. The cinematography by Annayya won him the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Cinematographer award.

The core plot of the movie is based on a short story which had earlier been an inspiration for two English movies – the 1946 movie The Man Who Dared and the 1956 movie Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. The 1983 Telugu movie Abhilasha , in spite of being based on the Telugu novel of same name, was reported to be similar to these movies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiaherald.com/Politics/Read/3167/Yandamoori-Veerendranath-A-Plagiarist-Beyond-A-Reasonable-Doubt-|title=Yandamoori Veerendranath: A Plagiarist 'Beyond A Reasonable Doubt'|website=indiaherald.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/photo/happy-birthday-chiranjeevi-5-best-performances-989648-2017-08-22|title=Happy Birthday Chiranjeevi: 5 best performances of Megastar you shouldn't miss|date=22 August 2017|website=India Today}}

The movie is also noticeable for showing Rangeet River as a border between India and Sikkim "country" which was true at the time of release of the movie since Sikkim became a part of India only in 1975.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvTI6MyH1TI|title=Bidugade – ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ | Kannada Full Movie | Dr Rajkumar | Bharathi | Rajesh | Thriller and Suspense|date=22 January 2018|via=YouTube}}

Theme

The movie questions the need for capital punishment and confronts it from the perspective of the innocent victims trapped by the system’s incompetence.

Plot

The movie is about a reporter who concocts a false case so as to get himself convicted for first degree murder so that he can prove that the death sentence can be given based on circumstantial evidence and that it be done away with. However, by the time he is out of the prison proving his innocence, his father is falsely arrested in another murder case and is awarded a death penalty!

Cast

{{cast listing|

Rajkumar as M. B. Shekhar
Bharathi as Shobha
Kalpana as Mala (Special appearance)
Rajesh as Somnath
Sampath as Sadashiva Rao
T. N. Balakrishna as Subba Rao
Narasimharaju as Kapinipathi Rao
K. S. Ashwath as Bhyrappa
Vajramuni as Gopal, CID Inspector
Thoogudeepa Srinivas as Muniya, labourer
Shakti Prasad as jail superintendent
Dinesh as Devappa, owner of the coffee plantations
M. Jayashree as Mala's mother
Vijaya Lalitha as Rekha, Mala's sister
Shani Mahadevappa as Thammayya, labourer

}}

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by M. Ranga Rao and the lyrics were written by Chi. Udaya Shankar.{{Cite web|url=https://www.raaga.com//album/-songs-|title=Songs Download, Kannada MP3 Songs, Raaga.com Kannada Songs|website=raaga.com}}

=Track list=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! # !! Title !! Singer(s) !! Length

| "Bedagina Henna"

| P. Susheela, P. B. Sreenivas

| 06:06

| "Baanige Neeliya"

| P. Susheela, P. B. Sreenivas

| 05:38

| "Ninneyo Mugida Kathe"

| S. Janaki

| 03:27

| "Nanna Putta Samsara"

| P. Susheela

| 03:26

| "Bedagina Henna"

| P. Susheela & chorus

| 03:26

Reception

According film historian K. Puttaswamy, this was the first Kannada film that had its ending changed, as the audiences disliked the tragic climax.{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/1973-when-kannada-cinema-fired-on-all-cylinders-2707016|title=1973 - When Kannada cinema fired on all cylinders|newspaper = Deccan Herald|date=30 Sep 2023}}