Sankarabharanam won four National Film Awards apart from Prize of Public at this film festival

Sankarabharanam

, the music drama directed by

K Viswanath

in 1980, starring

JV Somayajulu

, Manju Bhargavi, Chandramohan and Rajyalakshmi was a massive hit when it released.

The film had a 365-day run at Royal theatre in Hyderabad and opened to almost empty halls in selected theatres. However, due to positive word-of-mouth, the film soon ran packed houses after its release on February 2.

Did you know that the film even won the Prize of the Public award at the Besancon Film Festival of France in 1981? The film was also screened at the 8th International Film Festival of India, the Tashkent Film Festival, the Asia Pacific Film Festival, the Moscow International Film Festival held in May 1980 and more.

Sankarabharanam remains one of the best classics produced by the Telugu film industry. Apart from five Nandi Awards, the film also won four National Film Awards for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment to producer Edida Nageswara Rao, Best Music Direction to

KV Mahadevan

, Best Male Playback Singer to SP Balasubrahmanyam and Best Female Playback Singer to Vani Jayaram. JV Somayajulu’s performance in the film is still hailed as one of the greatest performances in Indian cinema

The classical film that triggered a sequence of similar films to follow revolves around the lives of a popular Carnatic singer and widower called

Sankarabharanam Sankara Sastry

and a Dasi’s daughter called Tulasi, who has an affinity for music and dance.