Bedara Kannappa
Bedara Kannappa is a 1954 Indian Kannada-language film directed by H. L. N. Simha and written by G. V. Iyer. It stars Rajkumar and Pandari Bai. Bedara Kannappa started as a play produced by the Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company before it became a Kannada film. The film was a launch pad to Rajkumar's career. It also marked the debut of Narasimharaju, who went on to be named among Kannada cinema's finest actors, alongside Rajkumar. The success of this movie was reported to have spurred the pace of production of Kannada movies significantly. The movie is  an adaptation of the stage play by Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company which was based on the folktale of the hunter Kannappa who proves his extreme devotion to Shiva by gouging out both his eyes. It ran in theaters for one hundred days. The movie was dubbed in Tamil as Vedan Kannappa. It was remade in Telugu as "Kalahasti Mahatyam" also starring Rajkumar in his only non-Kannada film appearance. The Telugu movie was also a hit. It was the first Kannada film to win a national award. The song "Shivappa Kayo Tande" (literally "Shiva, protect me oh father") is very  popular and is sung even today in orchestras.The movie was remade in Hindi in 1955 by the same director- producer duo as "Shiv Bhakta". It was again remade in Telugu in 1976 as "Bhakta Kannappa". Soundtrack. The film's soundtrack was composed by R. Sudharsanam. The song "Shivappa kaayo thande" became a huge hit. Kannada songs. Lyrics were by S. Nanjappa. Playback singers are C. S. Jayaraman, T. A. Mothi, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. S. Bagavathi & P. Susheela. Tamil Dubbed Version Songs. Playback singers are T. M. Soundararajan, T. A. Mothi, Thiruchi Loganathan, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. S. Bagavathi , Radha Jayalakshmi & P. Susheela.