This Day, That Year: The Shiva Rajkumar starrer 'Samyuktha' turns 33 today

One of Dr. Shiva Rajkumar's earliest hits, '

Samyuktha

', completes 33 years of its release today. A landmark thriller film in the careers of both Shiva Rajkumar and Chi. Guru Dutt, 'Samyuktha' was directed by K.N. Chandrashekar Sharma. The film was written by

Singeetam Srinivas Rao

along with the iconic dialogue writer and lyricist Chi. Udaya Shankar, with the original story adapted from Kakolu Saroja Rao's

novel of the same name

.

This was Dr. Shiva Rajkumar's fifth bonafide film as a leading man and the success of his previous films helped 'Samyuktha' too in gaining tremendous traction at the time of its release. Having begun his acting career only two years prior with Singeetam Srinivas Rao's 'Anand', Dr. Shiva Rajkumar had already progressed to becoming the

Hattrick Hero

in the industry - the title came about on virtue of the success of his first three releases ('Anand', 'Ratha Sapthami', and 'Manamecchida Hudugi'). The film also featured debutant Veena who later starred in films like 'Abhimanyu' and 'Aakasmika'.


Interestingly, the film's superhit songs were composed by the legendary Singeetam Srinivas Rao with Chi. Udaya Shankar stepping-in again as the lyricist. Along with his many exploits as a writer-director, Singeetam Srinivas Rao has also dabbled lyric-writing and music composition. A disciple of the legendary music pioneer S. Rajeshwara Rao, Singeetam Srinivas Rao has composed the soundtracks of two Kannada films overall - the second one being his own directorial, 'Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma'.