Kokila Sandeśa
The Kokila Sandeśa (Sanskrit: कोकिलसन्देश) or "The Message of The Koel" is a Sanskrit love poem written by Uddanda Śāstrī in the 15th century AD. A short lyric poem of 162 verses, it describes how a nameless hero, abducated from his wife’s side by mysterious women, sends a message to her via a koel. The poem belongs to the sandeśa kāvya, (‘messenger poem’) genre and is modelled upon the Meghadūtaof Kālidāsa. It is one of the most famous of the many sandeśa kāvya poems from Kerala.
The Poet
Uddaṇḍa Śāstrī was a 15th-century Tamil from a village whose learning and scholarship is so great that even the parrots are reciting the Vedas as the koil flies past. He made his way west, seeking patronage, and eventually ended up in Kerala where he is said to have married a lady from Chendamangalam (which leads some to assume the poem's heroine, of the Marakkara household in Chendamangalam, is in fact his wife).
The poet is supposed to have acquired the title Uddaṇḍa, which means 'pre-eminent' (literally 'one who has a stick upraised'), from the Zamorin court of Calicut where he found patronage; his original name was Irugupanātha. It was this verse, the very first words the poet spoke to the Zamorin, which is said to have earned him his name:
Kokila
Kokila may refer to:
Kokila (film)
Kokila is a 1977 Kannada-language film starring Kamal Haasan, Shoba playing the title character along with Roja Ramani and Mohan in other prominent roles. The film marked the directional debut of Balu Mahendra, who was a cinematographer working predominantly in South Indian films then. The film was successful upon release in Karnataka and its neighbouring states, becoming the first Kannada film to be screened for 100 days in Madras (now Chennai). Kokila was remade into Malayalam as Oomakkuyil and in Hindi as Aur Ek Prem Kahani both by Mahendra himself in 1983 and 1996. Balu Mahendra won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography and Karnataka State Film Award for Best Screenplay.
Plot
Kokila (1937 film)
Kokila (Nightingale) is a 1937 Hindi social family drama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics written by Siddiqui and Zia Sarhadi. The story was adapted from the well-known novel "Kokila", written by Gujarati writer Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai. The film starred Motilal, Sabita Devi, Shobhna Samarth, Maya Bannerjee, Sitara Devi, Pesi Patel, Siddiqui and Kayam Ali.
Cast
Review and Box-Office
The film was not a success with Baburao Patel of Filmindia in his December 1937 editorial claiming it had "failed rather badly". However, it had a large audience attendance in the first week and that according to Patel was due to Sabita Devi. The screenplay was considered a poor adaptation of the story. Patel was critical of Motilal and Siddiqui's performances while praising Maya Bannerjee and Sankatha Prasad for their efforts. Shobhna Samarth had made her entry in films through Nigah-e-Nafrat (1935), but came into prominence with her roles in films like Do Diwane (1936) and Kokila.
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