Geethanjali

Geethanjali (1989)

గీతాంజలి

Prakash, who is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Geethanjali, an equally ill patient, fall in love with each other. However, when she learns about his illness, she decides to move out of his life.

Date of release
1989-05-10
TMDB
7.2 / 10 (20)
Runtime
2h 17m
Genres
Drama, Romance
Director
Mani Ratnam

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Ooty

Geethanjali is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film co-written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Nagarjuna and Girija, with music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The story revolves around two terminally ill individuals who fall in love, despite knowing they have limited time to live.

Production

Nagarjuna, fascinated by Mani Ratnam's Mouna Ragam (1986), was eager to collaborate with the director. Recognising his own cinematic sensibilities through Ratnam's work, he persistently waited outside Ratnam's house each morning, hoping to engage in conversations during the director's daily walks. After a month of persistence, Nagarjuna persuaded Ratnam to direct a Telugu film with him in the lead.

The title Geethanjali was inspired by a Delhi-based 11-year-old girl suffering from cancer, whose emotional diary entries were published at the time, deeply moving Ratnam, who decided to name both the film and its heroine after her. The film was produced on a budget of around ₹1.2 crore. Nagarjuna was paid ₹7.5 lakh while Ratnam's remuneration was ₹10 lakh.

Girija was cast as the lead actress in Geethanjali after Mani Ratnam noticed her at his wedding to Suhasini, where she accompanied the sister of cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth. She trained under a senior associate director for two months before filming. During post-production, her voice was dubbed by Rohini.

Mani Ratnam, impressed with Rajasri's work on Telugu dubs of his Tamil films, asked him to write for his first straight Telugu film. Rajasri agreed, and Mani Ratnam ensured that every dialogue was translated into Tamil and made adjustments as necessary. The film featured fewer dialogues compared to a typical love story.

Principal photography began on 12 October 1988 and was completed in sixty working days. Suhasini, newly-wedded to Mani Ratnam, clapped the first shot. The filming started early at dawn, around 5 AM, and wrapped up by about 11 AM, with the cast and crew arriving on location an hour before filming. Most of the scenes were shot in the misty valleys of Ooty, chosen by Ratnam for its soft, poetic atmosphere to capture a dreamy, romantic feel.

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