Karnan

Karnan is a 1964 Indian Tamil mythological epic film produced and directed by B. R. Panthulu. It features Sivaji Ganesan as the eponymous character, leading an ensemble cast consisting of N. T. Rama Rao, S. A. Asokan, R. Muthuraman, Devika, Savithri and M. V. Rajamma. The film is based on the story of Karna, a character from the Indian Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is born to an unmarried mother Kunti who abandons him in the Ganges to avoid embarrassment. The child is discovered and adopted by a charioteer. Karnan does not want to follow his foster father's profession, and instead, becomes a warrior. He then befriends Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince, eventually setting the initial grounds of the Kurukshetra war, where he will join Duryodhana to fight against his own half-brothers, the Pandavas. Karnan, which was officially launched in 1963, was Sivaji Ganesan's costliest production. It was the first Tamil film to be shot in the palaces of Jaipur and the war sequences were filmed in Kurukshetra, which featured several soldiers from the Indian Army. The film's original soundtrack was composed by M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy, while the lyrics were written by Kannadasan.