Sringaram

<p>The story begins with a dancer, Varshini, being invited to the national capital of India on the eve of India being declared a republic. The temple priest who has nurtured since her birth takes her to the Brihadeeshvara Temple to meet a temple dancer named Kama. The story then flashes back to the 1920s. The temple dancer is about to retire from her service as a dancer and has chosen her daughter Madhura as her descendant. The vassal of the Tanjavore Presidency is attracted to Madhura. In addition to being a temple dancer, Madhura has to satisfy the vassal’s desires. Madhura is more interested in developing her art of dancing. Meanwhile, Shiva, a lower caste temple servant has awe for Madhura’s art. He threatens the vassal for an attempt to murder by a rebellious group called “Vande Mataram”. But things don’t go so and Shiva is accused of lying. He is sent into an exile but eventually mixes with the same group “Vande Mataram”. In order to broaden his prospects, the vassal asks Madhura to seduce the collector of Tanjavore through her art. Madhura rejects thus decision and disappears. Now, Kama, Madhura’s sister, is chosen as the temple dancer. Learning the barbaric thoughts of the vassal, Kama chooses to elope like Madhura. She finds that Madhura is a part of the rebellious “Vande Mataram” group. Things become more complicated as the sacred thread from temple goes missing. Madhura is accused of stealing and the vassal orders her arr- Shiva confesses to the policemen that he is the real accused but secretly tells Madhura where had he kept the sacred thread. Shiva is hanged to death for the charges of robbery. Madhura is pregnant and dies while giving birth to her child. The child is none other than Varshini herself. She is a look alike of Madhura.<br /> The story then comes to the present where it is revealed that the vassal has invited Varshini to the national capital. Kama tells Varshini that her mother’s last wish was to be cremated with the holy temple fire. The film ends with Varshini, wearing the sacred thread, cremating her mother with the holy temple fire and dancing to pay homage to her mother’s artiste. The film’s score and soundtrack were composed by renowned legendary . The soundtrack album features 14 tracks, most of them sung by . Lyrics were penned by Swati VAR. Jayaraman eventually won a for the film’s score. is notably his first and till date only work for a feature film. A critic from wrote that ” is truly a feast for the senses”. A critic from wrote that the film is an “ideal viewing for a discerning viewer who looks out for something different, meaningful and rooted to the soil, than the mindless, run-of-the-mill stuff churned out regularly”. The film was screened at following film festivals:</p>