Chanakya Chandragupta | |
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Directed by | N. T. Rama Rao |
Written by | Pingali Nagendra Rao (dialogues) |
Screenplay by | N. T. Rama Rao |
Story by | N. T. Rama Rao |
Produced by | N. T. Rama Rao |
Starring | N. T. Rama Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao Sivaji Ganesan Jayapradha Manjula |
Cinematography | Kannappa |
Edited by | G. D. Joshi |
Music by | Pendyala Nageswara Rao |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 178 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Chanakya Chandragupta is a 1977 Indian Telugu-language historical drama film, produced and directed by N. T. Rama Rao under his Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner. It stars Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sivaji Ganesan, Jayapradha and Manjula, with music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. The film is based on the 3rd century BC Maurya Emperor Chandragupta Maurya and his mentor Chanakya. [1]
This article needs an improved plot summary.(April 2022) |
The film is a historical story, based on the 3rd century BC Maurya Emperor Chandragupta Maurya and his mentor Chanakya. It begins with the Greek invader Alexander intruding on our borders, Magadha as his last step of sovereignty. Discerning it, fear-defying scholar Chanakya is under trace of the dynamic King to hinder it. Besides, Chandragupta is a strong fighter who flags rebellion against this foray. Indeed, he is the son of Mura, the discarded wife Mahapadma Nanda, classifying her as an underdog. Unbeknownst to it, Chandragupta moves to Pataliputra to alarm the trend.
Whereat, he bars haughty & idiotic 9 Nanda Princes that torment the public. Plus, intimidates Chief Minister Rakshasa, a man of wit & allegiance. Rakshasa detects him as the hidden prince and warrants his apprehension since he pledges to excel Nandas as the King. At that point, Chandragupta confronts his father when Mura frantically lands, who pleads pardon by divulging her son's birth secret. She is mortified by Nandas when Chandragupta outrages but surrenders to Mura's word.
Amid this, he falls for a beauty, Aasa, the daughter of Rakshasa, unconscious of her whereabouts, who aids him in fleeing prison. Besides, Chanakya stepped into Raj Mahal to arouse the bravery of Nandas with the sword of Damocles. In turn, he is grievously abused and cast off by them. Thus, Chanakya vows to destroy their clan, and this causes Rakshasa to assassinate him, whom Chandragupta secures. Chanakya declares him as the only one fit as Emperor, and the two fuse to seek their avenge.
From there, Chanakya moves the pawns. He solidifies Chandragupta's friendship with the tribal King Parvataka with a promise to mold his daughter Chhaya as the empress. Rakshasa also takes many steps to quash their mutiny, e.g., he makes Chandragupta the snakebite victim, digs a secret passage from the fortress to Chanakya's asylum, etc. He also heinously sculpts Aasa into a venomous beauty, sensing her amour on Chandragupta.
Parallelly, Alexander arrives when Chandragupta is engulfed in Aasa's love, so Chanakya ignites his valor via Mura. Forthwith, Chandragupta beats Alexander in a duel, who bows and retreats before the sacred bond between mentor & disciple.
Later, Chanakya tracks down Rakshana's intrigue in digging the secret tunnel. In line with his tactics, Chandragupta launches an opposite charge and conquers Magadha. Now, Chanakya callously decapitates Nandas for Chandragupta's imperialism and creates a new clan of Maurya Empire in the name of Mura. Infuriated, Mahapadma attempts to kill Chandragupta when Mura dies, and he, too, commits suicide.
Then Chandragupta is about to pleasure himself with Aasa on the same night, and Chanakya shields him, unveiling her identity, so she makes a self-sacrifice. At last, Chanakya safeguards Rakshasa and designates him as Chandragupta's Chief Minister as the knowledge applied to the true path. Finally, the movie ends happily, with Chanakya crowning Chandragupta.
Music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. Lyrics were written by C. Narayana Reddy. [3]
S. No | Song Title | Singers | length |
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1 | "Chirunavvula Tholakarilo" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, P. Susheela | 3:38 |
2 | "Evaro Aa Chandrudevaro" | P. Susheela | 3:48 |
3 | "Idhe Tholireyi" | P. Susheela | 3:54 |
4 | "Okata Renda Thommidi" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki | 4:18 |
5 | "Sikandar Toone" | Vani Jayaram | 5:45 |
6 | "Siri Siri Chinnoda" | Vani Jayaram | 3:23 |
Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire, a geographically-extensive empire based in Magadha. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Magadha kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Ashoka the Great, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE. The nature of the political formation that existed in Chandragupta's time is not certain. The Mauryan empire was a loose-knit one with large autonomous regions within its limits.
Magadha also called the Kingdom of Magadha or the Magadha Empire, was a kingdom and empire, and one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, 'Great Kingdoms' of the Second Urbanization, based in southern Bihar in the eastern Ganges Plain, in Ancient India. Magadha was ruled by the Brihadratha dynasty, the Haryanka dynasty, the Shaishunaga dynasty, the Nanda dynasty, the Mauryan dynasty, the Shunga dynasty and the Kanva dynasty. It lost much of it territories after being defeated by the Satavahanas of Deccan in 28 BC and was reduced to a small principality around Pataliputra. Under the Mauryas, Magadha became a pan-Indian empire, covering large swaths of the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan.
Chanakya was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise, the Arthashastra, a text dated to roughly between the fourth century BCE and the third century CE. As such, he is considered the pioneer of the field of political science and economics in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to classical economics. His works were lost near the end of the Gupta Empire in the sixth century CE and not rediscovered until the early 20th century. Around 321 BCE, Chanakya assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power and is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both emperors Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia based in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The empire was centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain; its capital city was located at Pataliputra. Outside this imperial centre, the empire's geographical extent was dependent on the loyalty of military commanders who controlled the armed cities scattered within it. During Ashoka's rule the empire briefly controlled the major urban hubs and arteries of the Indian subcontinent excepting the deep south. It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka's rule, and dissolved in 185 BCE with the assassination of Brihadratha by Pushyamitra Shunga and foundation of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.
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