Gandhada Gudi is a 1973 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Vijay and produced by M. P. Shankar. Dr.Rajkumar in his 150th film potrays an honest forest officer Kumar while Dr.Vishnuvardhan plays the antagonist, Anand, though his character is redeemed at the end of the film. Kalpana, M. P. Shankar, Narasimharaju and Balakrishna performed other important roles. It was the first Indian movie made on the concept of protection of forest and wildlife conservation. It is the only movie in which Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan appeared together.The film was seen as a milestone in the career of Dr. Rajkumar dividing his film career into two phases — the one before Gandhada Gudi and the one after it. The movie became a Blockbuster and saw a theatrical run of 25 weeks. It was the time when CITES - 1973 Convention on International Trade in Species of wild Flora and Fauna was signed. CITES aimed to reduce the economic incentive to poach endangered species and destroy their habitat by closing off the international market. The movie was remade in Hindi in 1979 as Kartavya.The grand success of this movie prompted NTR to work on a script based on a forest backdrop leading to the 1977 Telugu movieAdavi Ramudu. The success of Gandhada Gudi led to a sequel in 1995 titled Gandhada Gudi Part 2 starring Shiva Rajkumar.
Plot
Kumar is a range forest officer who goes to the Nagarhole National forest to protect the natural resources. His main rival is the poacher Anand who unknown to him has been kidnapped and raised by Raja Venkatappa Nayaka to exact revenge on his father. In the final scenes, Anand gets hold of Kumar's mother and asks him to not interfere or that he will set fire to the forest. But Kumar shoots Anand, fatally injuring him in the chest. Venkatappa then comes in climax and reveals that Anand is Kumar's younger brother and he had done this to take revenge on his family. He tries to kill Kumar, but Anand kills venkatappa and dies on the lap of his mother.
The film has brilliant cinematography of the Nagarhole and Bandipur forest in Mysore which is the seat of the royal family of Karnataka. The entire cast has given excellent dimensions to their role. During the shooting of the film where Vishuarvadan's character "shoots" Rajkumar's character's mother, the prop gun was accidentally switched to a real gun. Prabakaran, a forest ranger who realised someone took the gun, ran to the shooting spot to avert untoward incident. Just as Vishnuvardhan was about to pull the trigger, Prabakaran begged for him to stop. The incident caused trauma for Vishuvardan who got death threats from Rajkumar fans. Despite this, both Rajkumar and Vishuvardhan remained on good terms afterwards.
Soundtrack
Music for the film and soundtracks were composed by the duo Rajan-Nagendra.
Reception
Gandhada Gudi was a box office-hit, which fetched around in 1973. The title song, filmed on Karnataka and Kannada is still popular among the Kannadigas. The song can be heard even today on any festival or function in Karnataka.
Sequel
The sequel to Gandhada Gudi had Dr Shivarajkumar in the role of a forest officer who is posted in the same forest where his father has created a history. Now it is upto him to carry his father's mission and protect the forest. Many considered the sequel to be a disappointment when compared to the legacy of the original.
Legacy
The film which speaks about the preservation of forests inspired other Kannada films – Jayasimha, Mrugalaya and Maasti Gudi. Also Gandhada Gudi is the first Indian movie made on the concept of forest conservation.
