Kokila (film)

Kokila is a 1977 Kannadalanguage 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.

The film was the directional debut of Balu Mahendra, who was one of the leading cinematographers in South Indian cinema at the time. The film also marked the debut of Mohan, who would go on to establish himself as a successful actor in the Tamil film industry. People from five different industries worked in the film Kamal Haasan and Balu Mahendra Tamil, Roja Ramani Telugu, Mohan Kannada, Shoba Malayalam and Salil Choudhry Bengali. However, none of them except Mohan knew the Kannada language. Kamal, the lead actor did not know Kannada at that time but dubbed in his own voice. Debutant Mohan was a student of Benaka, a drama troupe run by Kannada director B. V. Karanth. Mohan was acting in a play named Sidhathe alongside G. V. Iyer and Girish Karnad and he was asked to send his photograph to Mahendra who was in search of new actors for his directional venture. Subsequently, Mohan was offered a role in the film where he played Kamals friend.The film was screened at the International Film Festival of India then known as Filmotsav78 in Madras now Chennai. Kokila was not only a boxoffice success in Karnataka but also in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. In 1980, it became the first Kannada film to have a 100day run in Chennai. The film was released in its original language without being dubbed to Tamil, three years after the release, and ran for more than 140 days in Chennai, a record for a Kannada film in Tamil Nadu. ........

Source: Wikipedia