About the film:

The actor, singer and composer Nagaiah's directorial debut is a classic Saint film about the Telugu saint poet Thyagaraja (1767 - 1847), author of 2400 krithis (verses) and the founder of the Carnatic system of classical music.

Thyagayya (Nagaiah) is shown as a villager composing devotional music to Rama while rejecting the court of Serfoji, maharaj of Tanjore (Narayana Murthy), the dominant cultural center of the region. Turning down invitations and gifts from the Maharaj, Thyagaraja provokes the jealous wrath of his brother Japesen (Lingamurthy). The film's climax comes when Japesen destroys Rama's idols, Thyagarajan resurrects them eventually sacrifices his life to his God.

Nagaiah's performance in the title role dominated the hit film together with the music, including 28 of Thyagaraja's Krithis culminating in the number Nidhi Chala Sukhama, sung when he rejects the royal gifts. The director-composes also introduced lyrics from Kannada (the Purandaradasa devara nama in the film's opening), Tamil (by papasanam Sivan and sung by DK Pattamal) and Hindi (sung by JA Rehman). Among the main female roles, Jayamma played Dharmamba, Saritha Devi played Chapala while Hemalata Devi played Kamalamba.