Bhakta Kumbara (transl.Devotee Kumbara) is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language biographical film directed by Hunsur Krishnamurthy. The film stars Rajkumar and Leelavathi. Actress Sridevi essayed the role of Muktha Bai (as a child artist), thereby the latter making her Kannada film debut.[1] The film was produced by N. R. Anuradha Devi under Lakshmi Film Combines. Bhakta Kumbara marked the eighth collaboration between Dr. Rajkumar and director Hunsur Krishnamurthy.
The movie is based on the life of Gora Kumbhar, a potter turned into a saint who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries in Teredoki village. He supposedly lost his child while curing the clay by his legs for making pots, because he did not notice his child fumbling under his feet as he immersed himself in chanting the name of God.[2] He was called Saint Gora Kumbara [3] by the people of Maharashtra.
The film won three awards at the 1974-75 Karnataka State Film Awards - Third Best Film, Best Actor (Rajkumar) for his portrayal of the potter-turned-saint Gora Kumbhar and Best Music Director (G. K. Venkatesh). The movie saw a theatrical run of 175 days and was declared a Blockbuster at the box office.[4]Bhakta Kumbara is the second Kannada film based on the life of Gora Kumbhar with the first being Gora Kumbara(1960). The movie was dubbed in Hindi as Bhakti Main Bhagwan.[5][6][7] The movie was remade in Telugu in 1977 by V. Madhusudhana Rao as Chakradhari starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao. G. K. Venkatesh was the music director of the Telugu version as well and he retained four songs from the Kannada version.
^Singh, ed. by B.V. Bhanu, B.R. Bhatnagar, D.K. Bose, V.S. Kulkarni, J. Sreenath; gen. ed. K.S. (2004). Maharashtra. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 1177. ISBN9788179911013. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
