37 years of ‘Ratha Sapthami’ — Dr Shiva Rajkumar’s second film that inspired Hrithik’s ‘Kaho Naa Pyar Hai’

‘Ratha Sapthami’ poster. (Supplied)

The year 1986 was special for Dr Shiva Rajkumar as he made his successful debut in Anand directed by noted filmmaker Singeetam Srinivasa Rao.

Just months after making his first appearance as a hero, Shiva Rajkumar returned with Ratha Sapthami, directed by MS Rajshekhar, who later helmed a maximum number of films in the former’s career — including his third blockbuster hit Manamecchida Hudugi (1987).

With three back-to-back hits since his debut, Dr Shiva Rajkumar came to be popularly known as “Hattrick Hero” — a title by which he is most fondly known amongst his die-hard fans.

It is only recently that he is often referred to as “Karunada Chakravarthy”. It was director A Harsha and his team who introduced him as Karunada Chakravarthy in the film Bhajarangi (2013).

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Based on a novel

Ratha Sapthami is based on the novel of the same title Rathasapthami penned by Vidyullatha Sasanoor.

The dialogues and screenplay were written by the legendary Chi Udaya Shankar.

Noted filmmaker P Vasu co-wrote the screenplay for the film. He became popular for his multiple blockbuster ventures like Apthamitra (2004) Chandramukhi (2005), and Drishya (2014).

Ratha Sapthami was produced by SA Govindaraju, the brother-in-law of Kannada thespian Dr Rajkumar.

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Inspires Kaho Naa.. Pyar Hai

A poster of the film ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hain’. (Supplied)

The Kannada film, especially the second half, is said to have inspired the Bollywood blockbuster hit Kaho Na… Pyar Hai, directed by Rakesh Roshan.

He launched his son Hrithik Roshan, who eventually became one of the popular leading heroes of Bollywood.

In Ratha Sapthami, Dr Shiva Rajkumar plays a dual role. In the first half, he appears as Vishwanath and as Lawrence in the latter half.

The twist in the plot happens when Vishwanath dies in a road accident following which the heroine is sent out of her hometown to overcome her depression.

This is where she encounters a lookalike of Vishwanath, also a musician!

Also, Ratha Sapthami marks the debut of actor Asha Rani (stage name). Her actual name is Niveditha, and she is the daughter of noted late actor Rajesh.

Niveditha tied the knot with popular actor Arjun Sarja, the “Action King” of the South Indian film industry.

Ratha Sapthami is one of Asha Rani’s three biggest films in her career. She quit acting after marrying Arjun. She now heads the film production banner of her actor-husband — Sree Raam Films International.

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Music and remake

A song poster from the film ‘Ratha Sapthami’. (Supplied)

Apart from the dual character, the highlight of the film is its music scored by Upendra Kumar. All the five numbers penned by Chi Udaya Shankar from the album performed by SP Balasubramanyam and S Janaki are considered the finest especially Jotheyagi Hitavagi… has several million hits on video search and various social media platforms to this date.

Director P Vasu, who co-wrote the screenplay of the film later remade it in Tamil as Love Birds released in 1996 starring Prabhudeva, Nagma and others.

The music for the Tamil version was scored by none other than AR Rahman, who is now an Oscar-winning composer.

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