Shravana Banthu

{{Infobox film

| name = Shravana Banthu

| image = Shravana Bantu.jpg

| caption =

| director = Singeetham Srinivasa Rao

| starring = Rajkumar
Srinath
Urvashi

| producer = Kameshwara Rao

| music = M. Ranga Rao

| cinematography = S. V. Srikanth

| editing = P. Bhaktavatsalam

| studio = Chandrakala Art Enterprises

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1984|06|02}}

| runtime = 149 minutes

| language = Kannada

| country = India

| budget =

}}

Shravana Banthu ({{Translation|Shravana came}}) is a 1984 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film, written and directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.{{Cite book |last=Rajadhyaksha |first=Ashish |author-link=Ashish Rajadhyaksha |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |author-link2=Paul Willemen |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-563579-5 |pages=467 |orig-year=1994}} The film stars Rajkumar, Srinath and Urvashi. The film, produced by P. A. Kameshwara Rao, deals with reincarnation as the subject where the lead roles get killed for their romance and then they are shown to be reborn and fall in love yet again in the backdrop of inter-faith marriage. The dialogues and lyrics were written by Chi. Udaya Shankar. The film was received exceptionally well at the box-office and was one of the biggest hits of 1984. This was the first Kannada movie to show a computer on-screen. The director remade the movie in the same year in Telugu as Vasantha Geetam.

Plot

The film has a reincarnation plot with a secular message. The singer Kumar (Rajkumar), on a pilgrimage to a temple he saw in his dreams, meets the spirit of his friend Vishwa (Srinath), unrequited from an earlier birth. The friend recalls their previous lives in which they had been in love with the same woman Urvashi (Urvashi). She loved Kumar and Vishwa had ordered his men to kill his rival, unaware that this was his friend Kumar. Realising his mistake, he killed himself and his spirit was condemned to wander until redemption had been achieved. The woman from their earlier life, now reborn as Mary, a Christian, is courted by Kumar with the assistance of the spirit. The two eventually marry after overcoming the resistance of Kumar's caste-conscious father. This segment involves a comic turn when Kumar pretends to have lost his memory and becomes "Peter from Petersburg".

Cast

Rajkumar as Raghu / Kumar (Peter)
Srinath as Vishwa
Urvashi as Urvashi / Mary (Saraswati)
K. S. Ashwath as Shankaraiah, Kumar's Father
Leelavathi as Lakshmi, Mary's mother
Thoogudeepa Srinivas as Joseph, Mary's father
Shivaram
Uma Shivakumar as Subadhra
Advani Lakshmi Devi as Savitri, Kumar's mother
Vijayaranjini
Vishwanath

Production

The filming was held at Ambuthirtha.{{cite web |date=18 October 2010 |title=Picturesque Ambateertha |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/105585/picturesque-ambateertha.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418013103/https://www.deccanherald.com/content/105585/picturesque-ambateertha.html |archive-date=18 April 2024 |access-date=24 April 2025 |website=Deccan Herald}} The song "Baanina Anchinda" was shot at Annapoorna Temple at Horanadu.{{cite web |date=13 May 2015 |title=ತೆರೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಶ್ರಾವಣ ಬಂತು |url=https://vijaykarnataka.com/entertainment/gossip/shravana-bantu-movie-on-screen/articleshow/47251517.cms |access-date=24 April 2025 |website=Vijay Karnataka |language=Kn}}

Soundtrack

The music was composed by M. Ranga Rao to the lyrics of Chi. Udaya Shankar. All the songs were received exceptionally well and are considered evergreen hits of Kannada cinema. All songs were sung by Rajkumar and Vani Jayaram only. The song "Ide Ragadalli" was set in Durga raga.{{cite web|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/237134/ashwath-comes-alive-city.html|title=Ashwath comes alive in city...|website=Deccan Herald|date=25 March 2012|access-date=24 April 2025}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Shravana Banthu

| type = soundtrack

| artist = M. Ranga Rao

| released = 1984

| genre = Feature Film Soundtrack

| length = 22:17

| language = Kannada

| label = MRT Music

| director = M. Ranga Rao

| prev_title = Rudranaga

| prev_year = 1984