ONDANONDU KALADALLI ONCE UPON A TIME GIRISH KARNAD

  • INDIA

    • /

  • KANNADA

    • /

  • 1979

    • /

  • 140 mins

Set in a rugged medieval era, the film follows Gandugali, a wandering warrior who takes a job protecting a village chief from his power-hungry brother. Inspired by samurai epics, it’s a gritty, action-packed story about honor and greed, featuring incredible martial arts.

Producer(s) or Production Company :

G.N. Lakshmipathy, K.N. Narayan

Screenplay :

Krishna Basaruru, Girish Karnad

Director of Photography :

Apurba Kishore Bir

Editor :

P Bhaktavatsalam

Music :

Bhaskar Chandavarkar

Cast :

Shankar Nag, Sundarkrishna Urs, Akshata Rao, Sushilendra Joshi, Ajit Saldanha, Rekha Sabnis, Anil Thakkar

Awards - Winner :

Filmfare Awards South 1979 (Best Film, Best Director), IFFI 1979 (Best Actor)

Awards - Nominations | Screened | Official Selection :

Chicago IFF 1979 (Best Feature Film)

Girish Karnad (1938–2019) was a Indian playwright, author, actor, film director, who reshaped Indian culture. After studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he wrote legendary plays like Tughlaq and Hayavadana. He was a cornerstone of parallel cinema, debuting with SAMSKARA (1970) before directing gems like VAMSHA VRIKSHA (1971), KAADU (1973), UTSAV (1984), and KANOORU HEGGADITHI (1999). Many remember him from MALGUDI DAYS (1986–2006) or films like MANTHAN (1976), NISHANT (1975) or EK THA TIGER (2012). A Jnanpith awardee, he also led the FTII twice as its director and chairman, remaining a bold, engaged intellectual until the end.