Chandavalliya Thota

Chandavalliya Thota is a 1964 Indian Kannada language film, directed by T. V. Singh Thakur. It stars Rajkumar, Udaykumar and Jayanthi. Film was released on 24 June 1964 and ran for a hundred days at Prabhat Cinema in Bangalore. The film won many laurels upon release including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada for its Gandhian theme treatment of the poverty in rural Indian villages. The movie is based on the novel of same name by Ta.Ra.Su. This movie was the debut movie of singer K. J. Yesudas in Kannada. The movie was a huge hit.

Plot
Through the efforts of two close friends and revered village heads, Sivananjay Gowda and Naraharappa, a coconut grove is created to cool down the arid village with vegetation. Gowda, owner of grove, follows his astrologer’s advice and makes a “daan” of grove to his friend Narahari to escape his doom. Then, a priest and his wife scheme to grab the grove. A local tramp, Kariyappa, joins them, whose evil designs are to appropriate all that Gowda possesses. The schemers entice Rama, Gowda’s prodigal son, and even manoeuvre his marriage with Lakshmi. Eventually they succeed in sowing discord and bringing about a separation in the family. Rama demands and gets most of the property, which he promptly squanders away.

Cast

 * Rajkumar as Hanuman, Sivananjay Gowda's first son
 * Udaykumar as Sivananjay Gowda
 * Jayanthi as Cheney
 * Rajasree as Champa
 * Balakrishna as Kariyappa
 * Raghavendra Rao
 * Advani Lakshmi Devi as Lakshmi
 * M. Jayashree as Puttathayi, Sivananjay Gowda's wife
 * Shanthamma as Parvathi, Naraharappan's wife
 * Sharadamma as Papamma, priest's wife

Soundtrack
The music was composed by T. G. Lingappa, with lyrics by R. N. Jayagopal and Ta Ra Su.

Awards

 * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada - 1964
 * This film screened at IFFI 1992 Kannada cinema Retrospect.