Sri Manjunatha

<p>Manjunatha is an atheist, but a good person helping others in need and fighting evil. Even though Manjunatha hates his namesake , the latter loves his would be devotee. Being an atheist, Manjunatha always scolds Lord Shiva which is watched by Shiva’s vehicle and his attendant . Manjunatha meets Katyayini who is about to become a (Servant of the Lord) and marries her. Soon they beget a son, Siddhartha (“Siddhu”), who like his mother is a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. After marriage Manjunatha realizes the existence of Lord Shiva and slowly transforms himself into a great devotee of Lord Shiva. With his devotion, he lights the lamps of the Manjunatha Temple in Dharmasthala without using a matchstick and wins the hearts of everybody including the local King, Ambikeswara Maharaju who invites him to his court where he felicitates Manjunatha much to Manjunatha’s dislike. Here, the king realises that Manjunatha is going to die. In the meantime Manjunatha starts a with over 1,000 lingams worshipped and both Manjunatha and the king singing the and performing the puja. Manjunatha is also troubled by his enemies and is aided by Lord Shiva who comes in various disguises to save his devotee and help him and his wife attain salvation. The film was launched at Sri Manjunatheswara temple at Dharmasthala and another at Ganesha Temple at R T Nagar in Bangalore and also at Kanteerava Studios. All music is composed by All music is composed by A critic from wrote that “In the annals of Kannada film history this film is undoubtedly a masterpiece”. A critic from wrote that “This film is undoubtedly a masterpiece. It has a wonderful star cast, director, music, singers, [and] cinematography”. Regarding the partially reshot Telugu version, Jeevi of wrote that “He takes us through a journey till the heart-touching climax by making the best use of the histrionics of Chiranjeevi, Arjun and other actors”. A critic from wrote that “‘Sri Manjunatha’ is an example of doing justice to a particular genre with complete honesty. It will reap the dividends due to this trait”.</p>