School Master is a 1958 Indian Kannada-language film directed by B. R. Panthulu, starring Dikki Madhava Rao, Udaykumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi. It was the first Kannada film to complete a "silver jubilee" run in theatres. This film had its children's dance drama sequence in Gevacolor, taken by cinematographer by W. R. Subba Rao. The concept of the movie is based on the 1937 American filmMake Way for Tomorrow. Panthulu came up with film versions of this story in various languages. In 1958, School Master and Engal Kudumbam Perisu were directed by him, and dubbed into Telugu as Badi Pantulu. In 1959, ALS Productions remade the story in Hindi as School Master, again directed by Panthulu. A Malayalam version, School Master, was released in 1964 directed by Puttanna Kanagal. In 1972, the movie was remade in Telugu as Badi Pantulu. In 1973 the same story was again filmed in Tamil with the same name.
Plot
The story revolves mostly around the producer/director B. R. Panthulu who plays the role of school master, and his wife. Uncommonly for Balkrishna, he plays a positive role in the film. Bustling actor Narasimharaju is also present. A humble school teacher with his two sons and a daughter arrives at a new place. He finds that the school building is in bad shape and his staff are not motivated to teach. He is a strict disciplinarian, which is shown in a humorous way. His elder son gets into fight with a ruffian student, Vaasu. Vaasu is punished, but his innate goodness wins over his teacher. He is given special care, to become a good student. The teacher has to fight against village politics, when he wishes to build a new building to the school. Undeterred, he motivates his students and villages to amass enough funds to build it. However, henchmen in the village burn down his house. His pet student Vaasu gathers all his friends and builds a small house for his teacher. Years pass and Vaasu tops his matriculation exams. The teacher's sons get married, much against the wishes of their parents, but the teacher takes it in his stride. Their beautiful daughter is married to a simpleton business man. When the teacher retires, his sons are averse to take their parents. With no savings of his own, the teacher has to rely on his sons to lead a retired life. The elder son takes his father, while the younger one takes his mother. The teacher is thus separated from his wife. Things take such a bad turn, that teacher cannot even read his wife's letter, because his sons will not provide him with spectacles. In the climax, the teacher's erstwhile house, which was painfully constructed by his students, has to be auctioned off. Vaasu, now the Superintendent of Police, happens to pass by in the car and notices the auction. Distraught with pain, he confides to his wife, this is the very house, he built with his fellow students for the teacher, who led him to the garden path. He is overcome by emotions, on seeing the auction. Vaasu's wife immediately removes all her jewellery and urges Vaasu to use them to stop the auction and pay the bank. Vaasu is filled with joy and does so. The teacher is filled with happiness on seeing his once ruffian student becoming a role model. His journey of being a teacher has met a satisfactory end.
The Tamil version is titled Engal Kudumbam Perisu. Lyrics were by K. D. Santhanam, Ku. Sa. Krishnamoorthy and Ku. Ma. Balasubramaniam. Playback singers were T. M. Soundararajan, A. M. Rajah, T. G. Lingappa, S. C. Krishnan, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, P. Suseela, A. P. Komala, K. Rani and K. Jamuna Rani.
Telugu version
The Telugu version is titled Badi Pantulu. Playback singers were P. B. Sreenivas, A. M. Rajah, T. G. Lingappa, Pithapuram Nageswara Rao, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, P. Suseela, A. P. Komala, K. Rani and K. Jamuna Rani.
This film is one of the earliest Kannada films to contain a sequence in color. B. R. Panthulu had always included color portions, mainly Gevacolor portions in his early career as a director. A few scenes in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Baghban are taken from this movie, such as parents being separated by their sons, and a father unable to read his wife's letter, due to his spectacles being broken.
