Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam

{{Infobox film

| name = Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam

| image = Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahatyam.jpg

| caption =

| director =K. Vasu

| producer = Gogineni Prasad
K. Babu Rao

| writer =Madhu Kumar

| screenplay =K. Vasu

| story =Sai Chakra Unit
Robin Charles
Vijaya Rathnam

| starring = Vijayachander
Chandra Mohan
J. V. Somayajulu
Anjali Devi

| music = Ilaiyaraaja

| cinematography = V. Jayaram

| editing =Nayani Maheswara Rao

| studio =Saradhi Studios

| distributor =Sai Chakra Productions

| released = {{Film date|1986}}

| runtime =

| country = India

| language = Telugu

| budget =

}}

Sri Shirdi Saibaba Mahathyam is a 1986 Telugu-language hagiographical film written and directed by K. Vasu, based on the life of Sai Baba of Shirdi who has preached and practiced Religious humanism.{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94318-9|page=108}} Vijayachander portrayed the role of Baba. The film was a blockbuster and remained a cult classic.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&q=sai+baba+mahathyam+1986+film++encyclopedia+of+indian+cinema&pg=PA108|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|first1=Ashish|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first2=Paul|last2=Willemen|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135943189|via=Google Books}} The film ran for 175 days in 12 centers, was screened at the International Film Festival of India and the Moscow Film Festival. The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics written by Acharya Aatreya, and received wide appreciation. The film was dubbed into Hindi as Shirdi Sai Baba Ki Kahani and into Tamil as Sri Shirdi Saibaba.

Plot

Sadguru Sai Baba of Shirdi lived in British India. He was initially shunned by both Hindus and Muslims, especially by Hindu Bal Bhate. Sai was a Muslim and Bal Bhate forbade him to enter any Temple. Rohila, a Muslim, who thought Sai was desecrating the local Masjid by performing Hindu prayers and incantations, attempted to kill Sai. Then he saw both the Allah and Bhagwan in Sai and became a devotee. When Sai was ready to give up his body and resurrect himself after 3 days, just like Lord Jesus, a disbelieving Bal had wanted Sai's body to be cremated within 24 hours - only to find out that Sai had indeed risen, and also became his devotee.

Bhagoti, a leper, who was cured by Sai became his follower. Though Sai had no relations, he did call Tatya's mother his sister; Tatya his maternal nephew; a devotee named Laxmi as his daughter, and an elderly woman as his mother. Sai displayed his true form and opulence to another devotee, Nana Chandorkar. Sai lived in a rebuilt Masjid and urged his devotees to pray to God, as the Creator and to love and respect all living beings. He begged for alms daily so that he could collect sins and wash them away.

He always uttered "Allah Bhala Kare" and "Bhagwan Bhala Kare" to both Muslims and Hindus alike. He appeared in a multitude forms to his devotees (Lord Jesus, Guru Nanak Devji, Allah, Bhagwan Shri Ganesh) to cater to the various tastes of devotees. Sai was also fond of Nanavli, a mentally challenged devotee, who often challenged Sai. He was one of the few who really understood and accepted Sai as Vishnu's Avatar. Sai appeared simultaneously in a wealthy man's and Nana's dreams and called upon them to construct a Mandir of Bhagwan Shri Krishna. While the construction was under way, Sai prophesied the death of Tatya. Shortly thereafter while bequeathing the nine coins symbolizing nine virtues to Laxmi (which depict Sravan, Kirtan, Smaran, Padaseva, Archana, Namaskar, Dastan, Samveta and Atmanivrdan) Sai was ready to demonstrate to his devotees why they should not worry about Tatya's impending demise.