Babruvahana

<p>The story starts at where the are ruling after the partition of . On one occasion accidentally breaches the privacy of his elder brother and when they are together. To repent for this he decides to go on an exile. While in the Manipura kingdom he impresses the princess by hunting a tiger by Shabdavedhi (non-visual archery). The princess falls for Arjuna and accepts him as her husband. While bathing in the river Arjuna is abducted by , the princess of . She admits her feelings for Arjuna and they marry in . Krishna uses his magical powers to bring Arjuna back from Nagaloka. He meets up with Chitrangada and they marry in Gandharva vivaha giving birth to a son, Babruvahana. Krishna, with the help of brings back Arjuna from Manipura and wipes his memory of both the wives – Chitrangada and Uluchi. He says his sister, is eligible for marriage and wishes to be married to her. With the help of Krishna, Arjuna disguises himself as a sanyasi and elopes with Subhadra. Years pass by and the Pandavas are victorious in the war. They organise the yaga to establish sovereignty over the subcontinent. Arjuna spearheads the campaign along with Karna’s son, Vrishaketu and conquers kingdom after kingdom. The scorned queen of one of the defeated kings vows revenge on Arjuna and forces to curse Arjuna for killing the latter’s son . Ganga curses Arjuna that he will die at the hands of his own son. Babruvahana has grown up to become the ruler of Manipura kingdom and surpasses his father Arjuna in archery. Pandavas’ Ashwamedha horse enters the kingdom of Manipura. Babruvahana must either accept sovereignty of Pandavas over the region and pay a tribute or defeat Arjuna in battle. Upon learning from his mother that Arjuna is his biological father, Babruvahana goes to Pandavas’ camp to offer his submission and to accept Arjuna as his father. Arjuna, who cannot remember Chitrangada insults Babruvahana by calling his mother a woman of loose morals. Thus the battleground is set for a clash between the forces of Arjuna and Babruvahana. On the first and second days of the battle Babruvahana holds off Arjuna’s forces with ease and kills Vrishaketu. On the third day, Arjuna and Babruvahana meet face to face on the battlefield. Chitrangada serves as charioteer of Arjuna whereas Uluchi becomes charioteer of Babruvahana. Babruvahana kills Arjuna and effectively ends their Ashwamedha Yaga. Uluchi reveals herself to be Ganga in disguise who was there to witness her curse reap fruits. Uluchi advises Babruvahana to revive Arjuna using Sanjeevani-mani from Nagaloka. As Chitrangada is lamenting over Arjuna’s death, Takshak decapitates Arjuna’s corpse and take his head to Nagaloka. Krishna with the help of his Sudharshan Chakra defeats Takshak’s henchmen and brings back the severed head of Arjuna. Using the Sanjeevani-mani which Babruvahana got from Nagaloka, Arjuna is revived. Lord Krishna then revives all the soldiers who died in the battle. Arjuna unites with his wife Chitrangada and accepts Babruvahana as his son. Babruvahana: The son of Arjuna and Chitrangada. Babruvahana succeeded his maternal grandfather as the ruler of Manipur. He later goes to visit his father only to be insulted and taunted by the former causing him to wage a war against his father and eventually kill him. The war scenes were shot at Red Hills near Chennai. The music of the film was composed by with lyrics for the soundtrack penned by and . The film received a from the ‘s regional office at , the certificate dated 17 January 1977. The film was released on 16 February 1977 to positive reviews. The film had a phenomenal run of 175 days in several centres across Karnataka. The film had a 100 days run in Chennai while the Telugu dubbed version also completed a 100 days run in Andhra Pradesh.</p>